Tanya’s ten top tips to help minimize your legal costs Top Tip 11 Be honest.

Maybe it goes without saying, but this is one of the reasons that having a good rapport with your solicitor, is an investment. You need to be able to tell us anything. We are on your side – our client’s best interests are our first priority.

It may not seem relevant or important but I would urge you to let your solicitor determine whether anything you are unsure about, is pertinent to your matter. Sometimes it is as an afterthought that a client will tell me something that turns out to be a central piece of information, or a key element influencing how I conduct a matter.

I once was at court on a negotiation hearing (known as a Financial Dispute Resolution Hearing, or an FDR) along with my client and our barrister. We wanted to negotiate a final settlement to resolve all matters relating to the family home, financial property and income. Only at court did it transpire that there was a second property which one of the parties had not disclosed. This caused both parties increased costs and risked the non-disclosing party’s account of their financial position being disbelieved and potentially held against them. They also risked a costs order being made against them.

On other occasions it is shame or embarrassment that can stop a client from sharing everything they need to in relation to their situation.

But we can only work with what you tell us, and sometimes telling us something late (or not at all) can backfire on you and avoidably increase your costs. And, by and large, we family solicitors have seen it all, so to speak, and are not easily fazed. Certainly, when you have been around as long as I have.

If you wish to speak with one of our specialist solicitors in confidence please contact us on tel 01622 23 88 54, or by email at info@snslaw.co.uk. If you wish to speak with Tanya or Richard, our family law solicitors based in Maidstone, you can call direct on 01622 23 88 54.

Watch this space next week for Top Tip Number Twelve – the second of two extra top tips, over and above the Ten Top Tips, two for added value in 2020!