Legal Fees at Harbour Family Law

We are a niche family law practice. Our focus is on providing excellent, timely and specialist family law advice with a high standard of client care that is personal and tailored to support you and your families needs, through a difficult and stressful time. We understand –  because we only deal with clients who need family law advice – the particular difficulties and challenges that you face during this time.

We know how to support and advise you and your family. We are committed to obtaining the best outcome for you.

It is not often publicised and perhaps therefore not well-known, that solicitors and barristers are under a professional duty to act in your best interests at all times. This is the core duty of a solicitor and barrister. This is not the case for other advisors or personnel one may come across in relation to family legal matters. We are also covered by Professional Indemnity Insurance. Our main focus and professional duty is on you and your best interests.

Family law clients usually need to fund their legal fees privately – from their own personal savings or income –  particularly since the removal of Public Funding (Legal Aid) for most cases of Family Law.

If court proceedings are necessary it may be possible to apply for your spouse to assist you with your legal fees as, since 1 April 2013, the family courts have had the power to make a ‘legal services order’, which is a new form of interim order compelling one spouse to make provision for the other’s legal costs.

We can advise you if your case meets certain criteria for this application to be successful. Litigation loans are also a possible source of funding for legal costs for those facing court proceedings.

We understand the financial pressures which individuals are under when they are separating or divorcing. We will do our best to ensure we are clear about the likely legal fees in your case and the options available.

What we offer

We offer a face-to-face initial consultation of up to one and a half hours with Founder & Director Katy Zikking or Directors Fiona Greener, or  Nicky Howarth, with Associate solicitors Hannah Holdaway or Ros White for a fixed fee relating to their hourly rate. This initial consultation incorporates a free half-hour of time in addition to the usual hourly rated meeting.

At the initial consultation we can discuss your case in detail, provide you with initial advice, the options available and provide an estimate of your legal costs to deal with your matter.

Other Finance Options

In all other cases, work is charged according to time spent and the solicitors hourly rate. This does not include disbursements which are payable by you (disbursements are payments to other people or organisations, for example, fees to process consent orders, court hearings, and salaries for barristers or other experts).

An initial consultation will provide you with both knowledge and clarity of the options available to you in relation to your divorce, separation or child arrangement issues.

We will be able to provide you with an estimate of overall legal costs once we have spoken to you about your case in detail.