Aerial view along Lowestoft seafront, beach and promenade — divorce and separation solicitors in Lowestoft and Norwich

Divorce & Separation

Ending a marriage means unpicking the most complicated legal arrangement most of us ever enter into, at exactly the moment you have the least appetite for it.

Once one person has decided, things tend to move quickly. Decisions get made in the heat of it, and some of those decisions will shape your finances for years. It helps enormously to understand where you actually stand before you agree to anything.

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How we can help with Divorce & Separation.

The divorce process

Making or responding to an application, and getting through the legal steps without unnecessary delay.

Financial settlements

Dividing the home, pensions, savings, investments and business interests, and recording it properly.

Arrangements for children

Working out where children live and how they spend time with each of you, with as little conflict as possible.

Reaching agreement out of court

Negotiation, mediation and other routes that are usually quicker, cheaper and less damaging than litigation.

Get in touch Family Law FAQs

The divorce and the money run separately.

The application itself is more straightforward than it once was. Since 2022 there is no need to blame anyone; you simply confirm the marriage has broken down, and most applications are made online. What has not changed is everything that sits alongside it.

The divorce ends the marriage, but it does not divide the money, and the two run on separate tracks. Timing matters more than people realise, and taking the final step in the divorce before the finances are settled can affect what you are entitled to. We make sure the two are properly sequenced, that you understand what a fair outcome looks like in your circumstances, and that whatever you agree is written up so it holds.

Where we can help

The divorce process

Making or responding to an application, and getting through the legal steps without unnecessary delay.

Financial settlements

Dividing the home, pensions, savings, investments and business interests, and recording it in a consent order the court will approve.

Arrangements for children

Working out where children live and how they spend time with each of you, with as little conflict as possible.

Reaching agreement out of court

Negotiation, mediation and other routes that are usually quicker, cheaper and less damaging than litigation.

Two things are worth knowing early. The first is that the idea that assets are always split down the middle is a myth; fairness depends on your circumstances, and it can look very different from one couple to the next. The second is that a financial order, once sealed by the court, can be almost impossible to unpick.

As much, or as little, as you need.

You may be told you don’t need a solicitor at all, or that the two of you can sort it out between you. Plenty of couples do reach agreement themselves, and where that’s possible we’d encourage it. The part worth taking advice on is knowing exactly what you’re agreeing to before you agree to it.

That doesn’t mean handing the whole thing over to a solicitor, if you don’t want to. There may well be parts you’re happy to deal with yourselves, and we’ll tell you where that’s sensible rather than talk you into more. For some people it comes down to a solicitor at a few key points: working out where you stand at the start, checking a proposal before you commit to it, and having the financial agreement drawn up properly at the end. For others, there is a desire to hand over as much as possible to a solicitor, so that you can concentrate on other things going on in your life, or because it is simply too overwhelming and difficult for you to deal with yourself.

Whichever route suits you best, you stay in control of the case and the costs throughout, and that kind of focused advice costs a fraction of what getting it wrong costs later.

More than that, we’re also members of Resolution, which commits us to resolving matters constructively wherever we can. Where court is genuinely the right route, we’ll say so and represent you properly.

Not sure this is the right page?

If you and your partner are separating on reasonably good terms, Separating Together lets you both work with a single solicitor rather than instructing one each. For arrangements involving children, see our Children page.

Both sit alongside the rest of our family law work, and if you’re not sure which you need, get in touch and we’ll point you to the right one.