divorce in Scotland - solicitors advice please . . .

[grasmere]

A friend of mine (not me ) in Scotland is being asked for a divorce and half of the sale value of his long term home by his recent wife of 3.5 years which would put him out on the street with little money.

Is there anyone on the forum please that could just give me a pointer about the advice he is 'supposed' to be getting from his solicitor. I have been party to whats gone on so far and I am not convinced he is getting any real advice or support at all - more of a clerical service perhaps - eg " I await your further instructions". and " what offer of settlement do you want me to put forward for you".

Seems to me me that he does not need a solicitor to do that - or does he

Any help is appreciated, thank you

 

[scumbag]

From experince I have to say this is a difficult subject. best advice I can give, with what you have said, is to source a matrimonial solcitor. one that only deals with marriages and family stuff. Take all he has with him and ask them if he is being sold short on service.

strangely, when i got divorced a similar thing occured to my ex-wifes solictor, so bad was he, that my solictor offered her some quiet advice just so she didnt lose everything in fees to him.

Not all solicitors have you best interest at heart. unfortunate but true. Most, however are very good.

he should also go to a local libary and read a book on divorce. there are plenty out there. this helps him understand what his options are and whether he is being advised well or not so well.

unfortunatley emotions run high with divorce and it is very difficult to keep it to facts. difiicutl time. he has my sympathy. Time for friends to help out here and there.

A solictor does work for you, so it is reasonable to expect them to ask what to do. its the quality of the advice that comes with it that counts.

 

[l5foye]

Someone once said - a good solicitor is a contradiction in terms!

 

[grasmere]

thanks scumbag, I'll pass that on, every little helps.

 

[Satch]

The Divorce Settlement is in essence a contract and needs to be treated as such. Put aside all emotions and haggle, but he must find out what the accepted norms are first.

Lawyers tend to stick together and there have to be exceptional circumstances before a court will overturn the received wisdom of the time on what is "fair".

So need to know and understand the rules of the game hence the services of an experienced matramonial lawyer, not just the first local hack in the telephone directory or a junior. It costs and that is just the way it is.

http://www.divorceaid.co.uk/legal/scotland-ireland.htm

I should also mention that some lawyers are exceptionally bad business people. Some easily lose sight of the clients objective and get stuck into battles over wording and rights between themselves that seem arcane to the layman and in most cases turn out to be non issues but to them represent major victories.

The very worst think they are running the show and that is when it usually turns sour. Your friend should try to keep relations with ex as rational as possible and keep stressing that if she lets lawyers run amok where will be no winners in the long term. Agree as much as they can between themselves and tell their lawyers what they want, not what some para-legal has on a checklist.