—Family law · Pretoria
Whatever has happened, there is a next step.
We act for people going through separation, divorce, and disputes about children. You will speak to an attorney on the first call, and you will end that call knowing what your options are.
Most people who telephone us begin by apologising. For not knowing the right words, for crying, for taking up the time, for not being sure whether this is even serious enough to involve an attorney. You do not have to do any of that. Nobody arrives here knowing how this works, and the first conversation exists so that you can leave it knowing.
What we can tell you on that call is what the law actually says about your situation, roughly how long it takes, and what it costs. What we cannot tell you is what to want. That part is yours, and it is usually the part that takes the longest.
Jane Doe and John Roe, directors
01Where you are
Start from what has actually happened, not from a service list.
02What happens first
A call, a meeting, and then as long as you need.
Nobody explains this part to you, so here it is before you telephone anybody.
Ten minutes
The first call
You reach an attorney rather than a switchboard. Tell us roughly what has happened. Ten minutes is usually enough for us to say whether you need us at all, and a fair number of those calls end with us saying you do not.
Forty-five minutes
The first meeting
In our offices or online, whichever is easier to arrange without explaining yourself. You leave with your options set out and what each one costs, in writing, before anything has been opened.
No deadline
Then nothing, if you like
Some people instruct us that week. Some take the advice and handle it themselves. Some do nothing for six months and come back. All three are ordinary and none of them is held against you.
03What it costs
You will know the number before we start.
Quoted per stage, in writing, before that stage begins. You will never receive an invoice for something you did not agree to.
The full schedule- First consultation, 45 minutes
- R950
- Uncontested divorce, no children, settled
- From R12,500
- Parenting plan, drafted and registered
- From R9,500
- Maintenance variation application
- From R14,000
04The two of us
Your matter belongs to a person, not to a department.
Jane Doe
Director · Family law
Admitted 2009. Divorce, high-conflict care and contact matters, and relocation applications. Appears in the High Court and the regional courts around Pretoria.
John Roe
Director · Mediation
Admitted 2012. Accredited family mediator. Parenting plans, settlement negotiation, and the matters that should never reach a courtroom at all.
Tell us what has happened. We will tell you what can be done.
Everything you say is privileged from the first word, whether or not you ever instruct us.