The Perils of Acting in Person

At Hawkins Family Law, we recommend that each party in a divorce gets independent legal advice to ensure a fair and reasonable agreement is reached.

Here we outline just some of the issues that can arise if one party decides to act in person.

It means one party in the divorce proceedings – for example, the wife or the husband – is acting without legal representation and so does not have a solicitor. A litigant in person is a party representing themselves in court proceedings.

Usually, it is to save legal costs as they believe it will be cheaper. They may also believe that things will proceed more quickly without a solicitor. Or it may be that the party acting in person feels they do not need professional legal advice.

In our experience, there are no real advantages to acting in person. A perceived advantage is saving legal fees but, in our experience, this is not true and often more costs are incurred than they would have been if both parties had legal representation.

Unfortunately, this can be particularly true for the person with representation. This is because the party acting in person usually does not have proper legal knowledge or expertise and so the solicitor has to explain legal points to them, and this takes time and therefore incurs costs.

It is also often the case that the party acting in person will not trust the other party’s solicitor, and this can create problems and cause delay and more costs.

The represented party can also become frustrated with the process, and this can often result in the breakdown of an agreement.

Additional costs for the represented party in the divorce proceedings (as explained above). This can be particularly true in the case of court proceedings.

If the litigant in person is the applicant, they should be responsible for the preparation of the court bundle for court hearings. However, the court will often order that the respondent’s solicitor prepare the bundle as they know how to prepare them. This means additional costs are incurred for the represented party which can feel like an unfair process.

There can also often be delays and the breakdown of a financial agreement or parenting plan as the represented party becomes frustrated with the process.

From the solicitor’s point of view, it is helpful to discuss points that arise in a case with the other party’s solicitor. By doing so, it is often much more straightforward to arrive at a sensible and workable solution. Whereas this can be very difficult to do with a party acting in person where often emotions are running high.

At Hawkins Family Law, we recommend that each party in a divorce gets independent legal advice to ensure a fair and reasonable agreement is reached.

Ready to take the next step? Talk to us in confidence and find out where you stand. Our team of family law specialists – in London, Milton Keynes, Bicester and Watford – can advise and guide you from the moment we start working with you.