Do I need a solicitor?
Rather than a simple yes or no, the more useful question is often: what do I need help with at this point in the process?
Legal advice plays an important role in family proceedings. Solicitors are trained to advise on rights, risk, legal effect, and long‑term consequences. In many situations, legal advice is not just helpful but essential.
My role is not to replace a solicitor or to tell people they do not need one. In practice, I often encourage people to seek legal advice, either early on or at key stages, and many clients work with me alongside their solicitor.
This page is intended to help you understand when legal advice is usually needed, and how different types of support can work together.
You may need a solicitor early
If you are trying to understand your legal position, rights, or likely legal outcomes, this is legal advice and should come from a solicitor.
Many people involve a solicitor at the outset to get clarity before taking any formal steps. This can help avoid mistakes that are difficult or expensive to undo later.
If you are unsure whether something is lawful, reasonable, enforceable, or puts you at legal risk, that uncertainty alone usually indicates that legal advice is needed.
A solicitor is likely to be essential if…
You are considering making, responding to, or varying a court application.
Issuing applications, responding to them, or agreeing court directions can have lasting procedural and legal consequences. Advice at this stage helps you understand risk, timing, and options before anything is formally lodged with the court.
There are concerns about assets being hidden, spent, transferred, or put out of reach.
Situations involving dissipating assets, lack of transparency, urgent disclosure issues, or potential freezing injunctions are firmly within a solicitor's remit and should not be handled without professional legal advice.
There are businesses or complex financial arrangements.
This includes limited companies, self‑employment income, overseas assets, trusts, multiple properties, substantial pensions, or historical financial structures that require legal interpretation.
Timing matters and delay could harm your position.
Where deadlines apply, pressure is being applied to agree quickly, or decisions may limit future claims, legal advice should be sought before progressing further.
You are being asked to agree to or sign legal documents.
Draft consent orders, undertakings, settlements, or agreements with long‑term effect should always be reviewed by a solicitor. Understanding the legal impact of what you are signing is essential.
One party is legally represented and the other is not.
Where there is a clear imbalance of legal knowledge or representation, solicitor input can help protect against unfair pressure or unintended concessions.
There are safeguarding concerns or serious disputes involving children.
Where allegations, safeguarding issues, or high‑conflict dynamics are present, legal advice should be prioritised.
Using a solicitor does not mean you should cope alone
Even where a solicitor is involved, many people still struggle with process, paperwork, preparation, and what to focus on between key legal steps.
My role as a McKenzie Friend and Divorce Navigator is to support understanding, preparation, organisation, and process. That support can sit alongside legal advice, not instead of it.
Many clients use solicitors for legal advice and legal decisions, and work with me to stay organised, prepared, and clear between those points.
Clear boundaries between legal advice and process support protect you and improve decision‑making.
If you are unsure
It is very common to be unsure whether you need a solicitor right now.
Often, understanding where you are in the process makes it clearer whether legal advice should be prioritised at this point, or whether practical clarification and preparation would help first.
Where legal advice is needed, I will say so.
For a wider comparison of what a McKenzie Friend can and cannot do, our companion site offers a clear guide to McKenzie Friends.
You're unlikely to need everything below
Most people only need one or two of these, depending on how straightforward things are. Included so you have them to hand if you do.
Finding a McKenzie Friend
Bridge The Gap — A directory of McKenzie Friends supporting litigants in person, bridging the gap between legal procedure and public understanding.
Pension help
PODE.expert — Independent pension-on-divorce guidance, for when pensions need proper valuing rather than guessing.
Support and mortgage options
Help Network — Support for people going through separation and divorce, including mortgage capacity reports and options for buying alone afterwards.
Opening your financial claim (Form A)
Form A — Required even when you've agreed everything — you tick 'yes' under 'Type of application' to confirm it's by consent, and attach your draft order and D81 to it.
Recording an agreed settlement
Form D81 — The statement of information filed alongside a draft consent order once you've agreed terms.
Struggling with court fees
Get help paying court and tribunal fees (GOV.UK) — Fee remission if you're on a low income or certain benefits.
Mediation
Alliance Family Mediation — An option worth considering before or instead of a court application, where both sides are willing.
Solicitor support
Family First Solicitors — fees — For a sense of typical solicitor pricing, if you'd like advice or drafting help alongside your own.
Related reading
For common misunderstandings about what solicitors and the court will do, Bridge the Gaps sets out the reality behind 15 common assumptions.
For real courtroom dilemmas and what the court actually required, the Daily Dilemma series walks through practical examples.