What to expect - Solicitor
If you've requested an introduction — or are considering it — this page is for you.
It explains what a typical engagement looks like across each of the three pathways, so you can arrive at your first conversation knowing what to expect.
Every situation is different, so these are guides, not fixed programmes. But in our experience, the conversations below are the ones that make the most difference — in roughly the order they tend to happen.
For women navigating separation, a solicitor rarely works alone. At certain points a financial adviser is essential — and the two professionals work in sequence, and then alongside each other, to give you both the legal and financial picture you need. Before reading the detail below, it is worth taking a moment to see how the two professionals interact across all three situations.
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Considering Separation
For women considering separation, the following series of conversations with a family law solicitor would be helpful.
Initial conversation At no cost. 15 minutes, online (optional)
An initial conversation to confirm that this is the right fit — for you and for the solicitor. A chance to ask questions, set expectations, and decide whether you'd like to proceed. There is no obligation to go further.
Your legal position Fixed fee, agreed in the initial conversation.
Before this meeting, your solicitor will guide you on what to bring. You work through your situation and the general financial picture, as you understand it.
From this, your solicitor explains what the law says — how property is assessed under the Family Law Act, what contributions are recognised, what future needs the law considers, and what a fair outcome looks like in legal terms. Not a prediction, but a framework. One that belongs to you, not to anyone else's version of events.
This meeting is confidential. What you share cannot be disclosed. It does not commit you to any course of action.
This meeting carries a fixed fee. Your solicitor will confirm what it covers and what you'll walk away with before you book it — so you know exactly what you're paying for and exactly what you'll have at the end of it: a clear enough picture of your legal position to decide whether to formally engage your solicitor for the work ahead.
Beyond that
Anything further is based on what your situation requires. Your solicitor will discuss your likely needs with you based with what has been discussed to this point.
Fees
The solicitors I introduce offer the initial conversation at no cost. Before any paid work begins, your solicitor will be clear about what is involved, what it costs, and what you can expect. I ask that of everyone I work with. No surprises, no pressure — and if at any point something doesn't feel right, please let me know.
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Separating Finances
For women in the process of separating finances, the financial and legal professionals work together, informing each other's advice at every stage — led by the solicitor.
The settlement process has more moving parts than most women expect — and more stages where good advice makes a material difference. A typical engagement with a financial adviser across this process looks something like this.
Initial conversation At no cost. 15 minutes, online (optional)
If you are continuing with the solicitor you worked with during the considering separation phase, this is a chance to reorient — confirming what has changed, what is now in play, and how the engagement will work from here.
If you are coming to a solicitor for the first time, this is a conversation to confirm the fit, ask questions, set expectations, and decide whether you'd like to proceed. There is no obligation to go further.
Your legal position and the settlement framework Fixed fee, agreed in the initial conversation
Before this meeting, your solicitor will guide you on what to bring — including any disclosure documents, correspondence, or proposals that have emerged from the legal process so far.
This meeting works differently depending on where you are starting from.
If you are continuing with the same solicitor from the considering separation phase, the legal foundations are already in place. This meeting moves directly to how your legal entitlements intersect with what the settlement process is putting forward.
If you are coming to a solicitor for the first time at this stage, this meeting covers both: establishing your legal position under the Family Law Act, and beginning to understand how that framework applies to your specific situation.
In both cases, the goal is the same — a clear and grounded understanding of your legal entitlements, and what the settlement process requires of you and the other party.
This meeting carries a fixed fee. Your solicitor will confirm what it covers and what you'll walk away with before you book it — so you know exactly what you're paying for and exactly what you'll have at the end of it: a clear enough picture of your legal position to decide whether to formally engage your solicitor for the work ahead
Disclosure and the full picture Formal engagement begins here
Both parties are legally required to make full and frank financial disclosure under the Family Law Act — and your solicitor's job is to make sure that obligation is met. This meeting works through everything that has been disclosed: property, superannuation, investments, business interests, liabilities.
Your solicitor identifies anything that appears incomplete, inconsistent, or missing — and advises on how to pursue it if needed. That might mean a formal request for documents, a subpoena for financial records, or the engagement of a forensic accountant where assets are complex or concealment is suspected.
The asset pool can only be fairly divided once it is fully visible. Women who move to negotiation before this work is complete risk agreeing to a settlement based on an incomplete picture — one that cannot be revisited once formalised. This meeting makes sure that does not happen.
Proposals, negotiations and counter-offers
This phase is iterative — the meetings below follow the rhythm of negotiations, not a fixed schedule. Your solicitor works with you through each stage as it unfolds.
With the legal framework and financial disclosure established, your solicitor helps you build a proposal to put forward, assess one you have received, or respond to a revised position. Your financial adviser works alongside throughout — modelling what each proposal means for your income, superannuation, housing, and long-term financial security before any position is taken.
The solicitor assesses what is legally fair. The financial adviser assesses what works financially over time.
Together they are looking at the same proposal from two different directions — and it is often in that combined view that the strongest position emerges, and the most important risks are caught.
Reviewing a counter-offer When a counter-offer arrives, your solicitor works through it with you — what it means legally, how it compares to your entitlements, and whether it is worth accepting, negotiating further, or declining.
Your financial adviser runs the same scrutiny from the financial side — so that every response is grounded in both what you are entitled to and what will actually serve you over time.
A second counter-offer, if needed Negotiations rarely resolve in a single exchange. If a further revised proposal arrives — or if you want to put one forward — your solicitor and financial adviser work through it with the same rigour as before.
The fact that negotiations may have been going on for a while is not a reason to settle for less. If anything, this is the stage that most rewards patience and care.
Finalising
A final review before you sign anything — confirming that what is being proposed is fair, that you understand its legal implications, and that you are making this decision with full information and without pressure.
Beyond that
Anything further is based on what your situation requires.
Fees
The solicitors I introduce offer the initial conversation at no cost. Before any paid work begins, your solicitor will be clear about what is involved, what it costs, and what you can expect. I ask that of everyone I work with. No surprises, no pressure — and if at any point something doesn't feel right, please let me know.
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Planning Retirement
For most women planning retirement, the financial adviser leads — building the strategy, structure, and income plan, to achieve your retirement goals.
At a certain point in that process, legal matters arise that are just as important, and just as commonly overlooked. These include your Will, Powers of Attorney, and superannuation nominations, which may no longer reflect your circumstances and intentions if you've experienced significant life changes.
Your financial adviser leads, briefs the solicitor, and liaises with them as required — usually behind the scenes, with a meeting where the documents require it.
Your solicitor drafts the legal documents. Your financial adviser makes sure they reflect the full financial position, as you intend.
The conversations themselves happen with your financial adviser. What to expect — Financial Adviser
Beyond that
Ongoing strategy, reviews, and further advice are based on what your situation requires.
Fees
The financial advisers I introduce offer the first two meetings at no cost. Before any paid work begins, your financial adviser will be clear about what is involved and what you can expect, and will confirm the cost of the legal services and documentation with your solicitor. I ask that of everyone I work with. No surprises, no pressure — and if at any point something doesn't feel right, please let me know.