How it Works
THE DIVORCE LABYRINTH
We created this side-by-side visual to show the stark difference between the traditional divorce process and the WhatwouldaJudgesay.com approach. We call it the #Divorcelabyrinth.
On the left, you see the standard legal route many couples take—each spouse hires a solicitor, there’s prolonged back-and-forth, rising legal fees, and long waits for court dates. According to Legal Futures and Aviva, the average process takes around 69 weeks and typically costs £44,000 per couple.
It’s exhausting, expensive, and often leaves people stuck in limbo.
On the right is our service—a completely different path. We’re the first firm in the world to offer a written opinion from a respected family law judge within a fixed time-frame (six weeks) and for a fixed fee.
This isn’t about vague advice—it’s a clear, judicial opinion on how a judge would likely divide your assets, without ever setting foot in court. Instead of waiting until the end to hear from a judge (after months or years), you start with the judge. That opinion becomes your roadmap, offering legal clarity from the outset.
And because financial remedy law is more structured than many realise, once the finances are settled, everything else can fall into place. That includes the children’s arrangements and legal paperwork—submitting a consent order to the court for approval. This is the formal step required to make your financial agreement legally binding and obtain a Final Order. In other words, it’s the paperwork that turns agreement into legal reality.
By getting financial clarity up front, you avoid confusion, reduce conflict, and dramatically cut down on time spent in emotional and legal limbo. We help you sort the hardest part first—so you can move forward, smarter, and faster.
There is so much misleading information on what constitutes a ‘fair’ settlement that it’s hard to know who to listen to and who to trust. We make the financial settlement process easier to understand by offering trusted guidance straight from a judge.
The service we offer is called an Early Neutral Evaluation. It is a process designed to help you understand your options before you start a divorce, or as a tool to reach a settlement with your spouse.
The qualified judge provides a private and non-binding opinion about your case. They outline the likely financial remedy orders that would be made if it was presented in a Family Court. This is the basis for your final settlement and is tailored to your specific case.
HELP WITH FORM FILLING
- Property valuation/s: establish an initial valuation using https://www.rightmove.co.uk/
agent-valuation - Mortgage balance/s: this will appear on your last statement
- Pension valuations: To determine your pension value, you’ll need the current cash equivalent (CE) value. This may be on your latest statement, or you can request it from your pension provider.
- Bank or building society latest statement
- Up to date balances of your savings, investments, liabilities
- Income details: from your last P60
HOW OUR SERVICE WORKS IN PRACTICE
Understand Your Options
Start by exploring our services and learn how we can assist you. There is a lot of information across our website. Feel free to contact us, our client team is happy to answer any questions you have.
Get Started and Share Your Story With Us
Fill out our quick and easy online questionnaire to give us the essential details about you and your family. This helps us understand your unique situation. You can get started anytime, from anywhere, and even save your progress as you go. This system gathers important information, like relationship history and details on assets and liabilities.
This form helps us understand which service is best for you. To get a clear picture of your needs, we’ll ask you to select the option that best describes your situation, whether you’re married, not married, considering separation, or looking for guidance on dividing assets or child arrangements. For further assistance, our legal partner, Paradigm Family Law, can handle court paperwork or support child arrangement agreements for an additional fee.
The questionnaire also provides space to share what you hope to achieve, whether you’re exploring finalising paperwork, moving toward a legal divorce, or working through other issues with your partner.
Prefer to speak with us directly? If you’d rather chat with a team member first, there’s no need to fill out the online form. Just call us at +44 (20) 3951 0212 or email us at hello@whatwouldajudgesay.com.
Eligibility Check
Our legal team will assess your case to ensure our services are the right fit for you, including checking for any conflicts of interest. If everything looks good, we’ll send you a client care letter outlining the process, timeline and fixed fee for your review and signature.
Complete Financial Overview
Whether you’re completing the form with your spouse or on your own, it’s crucial to provide as complete a picture as possible. This includes detailing all financial assets—such as joint and individual savings, investments, property, and pensions.
Brief to Counsel
Our partners at Paradigm Family Law will prepare the brief to Counsel. This is where we outline your case for the judge. Our experienced legal team will analyse your financial disclosure and prepare a detailed brief to counsel for your specific case.
Independent Evaluation
A qualified barrister who also sits as a judge will provide an impartial assessment of how your assets should be divided, giving you a clear view of what to expect and a written legal opinion.
Expert Guidance
After the judge’s assessment, you’ll have the opportunity to consult with a legal professional from Paradigm Family Law to fully understand the decision and explore your options.
Next Steps (Optional)
If you need further assistance, our legal partner at Paradigm Family Law can handle the Court paperwork on your behalf, or support agreement on child arrangements for an additional fee. This makes the process as smooth as possible.
Your Resolution
Our goal is to deliver a judge-led legal opinion typically within a 6 week timeframe following completion of your financial disclosure forms.
Our website offers a comprehensive resources section that features recommended mediators and family counsellors to help navigate the emotional impact and consequences of separation and divorce. Also check our FAQs.
