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Divorce can get very, very expensive. Negotiations over the division of assets are, after all, ultimately discussions that will determine the participant’s quality of life for at least a few years following their divorce being made final. Combine this with potential disputes over children, gargantuan solicitors’ rates, the increased financial strain that comes with living alone etc. and the cost of a divorce can quickly spiral out of control.

By following a few simple steps, though, you can significantly reduce the cost of ending your marriage:

Try and negotiate with your spouse directly

If you and your spouse can both agree on how to split your finances, residency arrangements for the children etc. you’re not going to need to pay third parties to negotiate on your behalf and will make significant savings.

Yes, such negotiation can be fraught with tension and even animosity but, if you both want to save on your divorce, you’ll certainly be able to agree a few compromises.

Whilst you may not be able to agree on everything, though, that doesn’t mean you’ll need to go straight to expensive solicitors.

Try mediation

For couples that genuinely want to try and drive down the cost of their divorce but need some help negotiating a comprehensive agreement (who gets what, where the children of the marriage will live etc.) mediation is an invaluable service.

During mediation sessions, a qualified individual will work with both spouses and help them come to an arrangement that works for both parties. Mediators are not only significantly cheaper than solicitors, but are also guaranteed to be non-confrontational meaning that they won’t rile either spouse. This means that the parties will not only save money but will find the divorce process less emotionally damaging, too.

Download your documents

More and more people are now opting to complete their own divorce paperwork and, as all of the documents you’ll need can be downloaded directly from justice.gov.uk, it’s not hard to see why.

Whilst you’ll save money if you can complete your documents correctly, though, you’ll be charged a further court fee (you’ll find more information about this charge later in this article) if you need to re-submit them because of an error so drafting your own documents can quite easily prove to be a false economy.

Consider an online divorce provider

Online divorce providers such as Quickie Divorce are significantly cheaper than solicitors and will prepare all of the divorce documentation you’ll need for you for just £67.

As the fee for re-submitting amended documents to the court is £110 and most people that prepare their own documents making a mistake, the value of these services is, we think, obvious.

Check if you’re entitled to a discounted court fee

Whilst the courts charge a fee of £550 to process all divorce applications, you may be entitled to a reduction in this fee. Alternatively, you may not need to pay it at all.

So, before you submit your divorce paperwork to the courts, check out this page to find out if you can make further savings.