Whether they are required to settle a messy divorce, a dispute with a neighbour or to purchase a new home, legal fees are considered a necessary evil.

Drawing up a pair of discretionary trust wills can cost £800. A high street solicitor can charge up to £1,000 to arrange a petition for divorce before the matter even reaches court. However, there are ways to reduce your legal bills. Here, Times Money runs through the options.

Basic advice

A quick Google search reveals free legal information can be found at government and nonprofit websites such as www.directgov.co.uk and www.adviceguide.org.uk. Other websites, such as www.freelawyer.co.uk, offer free preliminary advice but will point you towards an expensive solicitor for complex problems.

Which?, the consumer organisation, offers an online legal service subscription for less than £1 a week for nonmembers, which includes unlimited telephone access to lawyers. Subscribers can also download letters to tackle high utilities bills, unsatisfactory building work or restaurant meals, or to refuse faulty goods or complain about an accountant or lawyer.

Car insurance policies tend to include “free legal advice” in the event of an accident, or offer the service for a fee of about £20 a year. However, experts give warning that such policies will restrict your choice of lawyer when it comes to starting a case.

Divorce

The best way to reduce legal costs in a divorce is to avoid going to court, opting instead for a private deal, says Julia Whittel, of Punter Southall, the independent financial adviser.

This involves appointing solicitors trained in the collaborative process. The downside to this is that if you fail to reach an agreement you will need to hire new lawyers for litigation.

Ms Whittle says: “A lot of people make the commitment to do things as amicably as possible, although this can be tricky. However, people generally want to talk about the children in an objective environment and about finances as openly as possible. And when people sit down in a rational environment and talk about the real value of assets, it is easier to resolve disputes.”

Conveyancing

Many lenders, including Nationwide and Woolwich, offer “fee-free” deals for remortgaging. However, Abbey will cover the legal costs for first-time buyers on its two-year fix at 6.34 per cent.

A solicitor or a licensed conveyancer, who is trained solely in property transactions, can assist with a sale. As ever, it pays to shop around. But Ray Boulger, of John Charcol, the mortgage broker, says that the cheapest conveyancer is not necessarily the best. “Going by word of mouth is the best way to find a good lawyer,” he says. “Finding a conveyancer through the Yellow Pages or an online search engine can be a case of pot luck.”

The Law Society (www.lawsociety.org.uk ) has contact details for solicitors who specialise in conveyancing. Alternatively, go to www.cls.gov.au for a directory of licensed conveyors.

Wills and power of attorney

There are plenty of will-writing templates available online, including www.tenminutewill.co.uk . The average cost is about £40 for a single will. There is no need for a will to be witnessed by a solicitor, but it is a good idea to have one check any complicated instructions.

More Than Legal Services has an interactive question and answer system for drawing up a will. You can then e-mail the finished product to a lawyer to check that it is legally binding. The service costs £18 on top of basic home insurance, which costs about £150 a year. Some trade unions also offer a free will-writing service to their members.

Cohabitation and tenancy agreements

These documents also do not require a lawyer or a witness. Nonmembers can download tenancy agreement templates from the Residential Landlords Association website at www.rla.org.uk for £5 a document. Alternatively, for an annual fee of £65, you can subscribe to www.landlordlaw.co.uk for documents and advice.

To find a basic cohabitation agreement, go to www.advicenow.org.uk, a not-for-profit website, or Love-and-money.co.uk, which is run by Skipton Building Society.

CASE STUDY

Jed Newton, of East London, has a household insurance policy with More Than insurance and pays £18 a year for the legal services “add-on”.

The 28-year-old mortgage adviser, left, is using the service’s online document service to draw up a will before taking a long holiday abroad over Christmas.

It is the first time that Mr Newton has used the service and he says that he may also use it to draw up a cohabitation agreement with his girlfriend and a lasting power of attorney when he has completed the will.

He says says: “I spend all my days advising people to draw up wills because it’s the correct thing to do, but until now I didn’t have one myself. I have been through the process of arranging wills with my parents, who used a laywer. The lawyer was good, but it was expensive and time consuming – they had a long preliminary meeting, followed by a signing meeting.

“For someone with straightforward circumstances, it seems more simple and less expensive to use the online service.”

Keep it simple with small claims

The small claims court can be used for simple matters, such as claiming compensation for faulty goods or services or disputes between landlords and tenants.

The amount in question must be less than £5,000 or less than £1,000 for personal injury claims.

You must try to settle a claim before taking court action. Make your claim in writing, giving the other party at least a month to reply and give warning that you plan to take court action.

To start a claim, fill in a form available from local courts or at www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk . Send two copies and the fee to your local court. If you instruct a solicitor you will have to pay the costs yourself.

For help with small claims or advice on more complex cases, consult the Citizens Advice Bureau at www.adviceguide.org.uk.