The team at Fair-Result welcomes the announcement that the Competitions and Markets Authority are to launch an investigation into what they are calling ‘quickie divorces’.
The Reality of ‘Quickie Divorces’
Specifically, their announcement talks about – online divorce and these so-called ‘quickie divorce’ services. Which have grown in popularity since the Covid-19 pandemic. These concerns include:
- Misleading claims about both the simplicity of the process and prices – leaving customers confused about what they can be helped with or what they are paying for.
- Inadequate quality of service – including the firms using the wrong forms, entering incorrect details, sending papers to the court late, and not communicating efficiently with customers.
There is no such thing as a ‘quickie divorce’. Regardless, all divorces need to go through the proper court procedures which takes a minimum of six months. However, couples can help speed up the process by reaching an agreement on all financial matters related to the divorce before initiating any court proceedings.
If assets, alimony, child support and other financial considerations are resolved and documented ahead of filing for divorce, it can expedite the process. The court would still need to approve the proposed financial settlement, but this allows couples to bypass the often lengthy negotiations and mediation required when finances must be litigated. While the courts still require several months to finalize a divorce, settling finances first means the rest of the divorce can proceed more quickly than in cases with disputed financial matters.
So, while quick divorces don’t exist, resolving finances beforehand allows the overall process to be completed in less time.
Our Opinion on the Industry
We too, are concerned about the proliferation of cheap online divorce services which do indeed mislead. Processing a divorce application for a fixed fee is only part of the solution – often used as a hook to attract clients and enable organisations to sell additional, more expensive services.
Whilst the concerns seem to revolve around online divorce services, the more traditional approach using family law practices often involves similar practices. ‘We can do the divorce for £2,000’ in itself is misleading when a family law practice knows it then requires the additional support into financial elements of a settlement which costs significantly more. Certainly, any investigation should consider these more traditional approaches as well as modern online practices.
Fair-Result does not operate any of these types of approaches. We offer a clear, no-nonsense fee quote for all aspects of a divorce including the fixed fee.
We share the risk – no other law practice or online divorce practice in the country does that.
Our clients know from day 1 what the cost will be – if we fail to be efficient then we suffer the financial losses – not our clients!
Peter Marples, Founder of Fair-Result said: “We set up Fair-Result to deliver a no-nonsense solution to financial divorce settlements. In the past three years we have won multiple awards for our innovative approach but more importantly – have many clients with whom we have been able to settle cases fairly and efficiently. If we make a mistake and waste time, the cost is ours. However, if we are efficient and settle a case accordingly – we get the benefit if our pricing is right. But our clients do, we can demonstrate that our fees are typically 75% less than for other similar cases – evidenced by the fees charged by the solicitors acting for the spouses we deal with in those cases.”
We Welcome the Challenge
Fair-Result welcomes the review by the Competitions and Markets Authority and sincerely hopes it results in better regulation of online divorce services but at the same time scrutiny of the charging processes adopted by more family law practices – many of which do not deliver value for money for their clients.
