HEATHER Mills and Sir Paul McCartney are set to square up in court today in what is rapidly becoming one of the most acrimonious divorce battles of all time.

It's claimed that Sir Paul has to agree to a £50 million settlement today or risk being publicly destroyed by his estranged wife.

Although it's unlikely the couple could have avoided a public showdown, many solicitors are accused of keeping quiet about alternatives to the courtroom because they have no financial incentives to promote them.

In fact, according to new research, a third of divorcing couples seeking legal aid had not even been told about mediation.

Divorce mediators are neutral third parties in whose presence partners can discuss terms of separation without having to go to court.

The Commons public accounts committee suggests mediation in divorces is "quicker, cheaper and... less acrimonious than court cases" and that targets should be set for the number of cases referred to mediation.

Committee chairman Conservative MP Edward Leigh added: "It is important to avoid courtroom confrontations as far as possible, even if some avaricious lawyers are more than happy to cash in by keeping quiet about the mediation alternative."

Lucille Turner, from Southbourne, had such a bad experience that she has set up a website (divorce-solici tor-trap.co.uk) and started a petition calling for reform of divorce law.

The 43-year-old writer and part-time journalist, who has collected nearly 200 signatures so far, said her divorce cost her and her former husband £50,000 over a £85,000 settlement.

"Three quarters of the people I spoke to when collecting the petition had some form of complaint, whether it was services or the charges they had to pay."

Lucille said that unnecessary issues were raised that delayed the whole settlement and caused more antagonism between the people involved.

Now she is calling for price structures and limits and a simplification of the law to speed up settlements - her own took two years.

Angela Riley is a family lawyer and head of mediation for Lacey Solicitors in Bournemouth.

"The problem arises because of our adversarial legal system, which pits one party against another - but the majority of people don't want to rip each other apart," she explains.

"There are people who do need the protection of the law and need a solicitor to help and support them through the divorce process.

"But the majority want to sit down like adults and sort it out through a lawyer mediator rather than having to pay out for their own separate lawyers and see their affairs being dragged through the court."

Ms Riley, who has been mediating for 11 years, adds that the government could do more to encourage people to seek mediation.

"A lot of people still don't know what it involves and think we are like Relate, helping couples to get back together, which is not the case at all.

"There are some excellent solicitors around here who do refer their private and legally-aided clients for mediation, but not all solicitors take that view."

Some people also turn to life coaching to help them through the divorce process.

Local coach Susan Terry, at New Horizons, helps people get through their divorce and relationship problems.

"Helping them to prepare for solicitors' appointments can save them huge amounts of time and money.

"Four hours of my time is a similar cost to an hour or hour and half of a lawyer's."

Divorce facts

  • On average a legal aid-funded case that is referred to court costs around £930 more than a mediated case.
  • There are currently no financial incentives for solicitors to refer clients to mediation.
  • Around 22 per cent of people live more than five miles from a professional mediator.