Expert help from one of our panel of family solicitors

We know that many Advicenow users can’t afford to pay a solicitor to help them with their case,  or that they need to do as much as possible themselves to save money. But there are times, particularly if you are dealing with something difficult but incredibly important like finances after divorce or arrangements for your children, when you will find it really useful to get a bit of expert help from a family lawyer. It is particularly helpful at the beginning of the case, so you can be sure you start off down the right path.

To help, we have teamed up with Resolution to provide a panel of family law solicitors that can help you at the most important points of the process for a reduced, fixed fee. We will show you up front exactly what areas of your case they can advise you on and how much their help will cost you  - so that you can be certain you can afford it. Moreover, we have designed a process to make getting this help as cheap as possible for you, by making sure that you use the solicitor’s time as efficiently as possible. 

We are testing out this service to see how it works. For now, it is only available for users of:

• How to apply for a court order about the arrangements for your children without the help of a lawyer 

• How to apply for a financial order without the help of a lawyer, and

• A survival guide to sorting out your finances when you get divorce.

For How to apply for a court order about the arrangements for your children without the help of a lawyer and How to apply for a financial order without the help of a lawyer, this service is only available to users of our extended guides. That is because users need to have read all of the help in the extended guide to be able to use the solicitor's time as efficiently as possible. 

How it works

As you go through any of the guides named above, you will see various points where we suggest you get some legal advice if you can possibly afford it. We only do this when we think it will be really useful.

We set out clearly what the solicitor can advise you on and how much it will cost you. There are no hidden extras. 

In order to get all the advice described for the low price we offer, you will use the solicitor’s time as effectively as possible by:

1. Ensuring you have read the relevant sections of the guide, so that you understand the process, where you are in it, and any particular questions you might have. 

2. Completing a form we send you as fully as possible and sending it to your chosen solicitor two working days before your appointment. This will tell the solicitor everything they need to know about your case in order to give you their advice in the appointment time.

You can choose whether you have an appointment over the phone, by videoconference, or face to face (when social-distancing is not needed).

During the appointment, you are encouraged to take notes of the advice given and the solicitor can help make sure you have got all the most important details. 

After the appointment you continue managing your case using our step-by-step guide.

All of the solicitors on our panel are members of Resolution. Resolution members are family lawyers committed to helping people resolve their family disputes constructively and in a way that considers the needs of the whole family, and in particular the best interests of  your children. 

We have devised this offer in the hope that it will take some of the worry and stress out of the process for you, and enable you to get a better, fairer outcome. 

If you don’t want to use the service, you don’t have to. Our guides will continue to be as extraordinarily helpful as they always were. 

We aren’t making money from this partnership now, but if it is successful we will start to charge solicitors a fee to be on our panel from late Spring 2021. We are emphatic that the needs of our users will always be our first priority, in this and every other aspect of our service. See Our ethical trading compass for more details. 

We are testing if this approach works, so please let us know what you think. If you use the service, you will be contacted to ask how it worked for you so that we can learn and improve. 

October 2020