Version 29 October 2026
These terms apply to the one-off family law advice and document drafting services you purchase through The Ex Files website. Read them with the description and order summary for your chosen service before ticking the acceptance box and paying. You can save or print these terms. Your cancellation rights are set out in section 8.
1 About The Ex Files
1.1 The Ex Files is a trading name of Rachael Harwin, a sole trader, also professionally known as Rachael Amelia Harwin. Your contract is with her personally, trading as The Ex Files, not with a limited company. In these terms “we”, “us” and “our” refer to that business and “you” means the individual purchasing the service for their personal matter.
1.2 Email: info@theexfiles.co.uk. Correspondence and complaints address: Office 171956, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL. We do not have a telephone number. Please use email for prompt communication and tell us if you need an accessible way to use our service.
1.3 The Ex Files is an online specialist family law advisory and document drafting service applying the law of England and Wales. It is not a firm of solicitors authorised or regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), and undertakes only unreserved legal activities. It does not provide reserved legal activities under the Legal Services Act 2007.
1.4 Our sole Consultant Solicitor is Rachael Amelia Harwin, a solicitor of England and Wales, SRA number 658302, who provides the legal services. She is individually regulated by the SRA. You can check her details at www.sra.org.uk/consumers/register/ and view her professional rules at www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/. Her individual regulation does not make The Ex Files an SRA-authorised firm.
1.5 Her duties include independence, competence, confidentiality and acting in your best interests, subject to duties to the court, the administration of justice and other overriding professional obligations. Your instructions and the business’ interests cannot override those duties.
2 Professional indemnity insurance and regulatory protections
2.1 We are not required to hold professional indemnity insurance on the SRA minimum terms and conditions. Alternative professional indemnity insurance is in place with SCOR UK Company Limited, Level 6, 8 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4BQ, subject to the policy’s terms, conditions and exclusions. Its territorial and jurisdictional coverage is UK only. Information about the cover is available before engagement on request to info@theexfiles.co.uk.
2.2 Clients of The Ex Files are not eligible to apply for a grant from the SRA Compensation Fund in relation to services supplied under these terms. Your Legal Ombudsman rights are explained in section 13.
3 Ordering and acceptance online
3.1 Before payment, the service page and checkout will identify the service, included deliverables and revisions, exclusions, total price, any necessary third-party costs, the information you must provide and the expected performance timescale. Those details and these terms form your agreement. We will not add material restrictions or charges after purchase without your express agreement.
3.2 To book, choose a service, provide the details requested to create your Ex File, review and correct your order, accept these terms and pay through Stripe. Your account is created only after payment has been processed, when we send an email asking you to confirm your email address. The contract and communications are in English. Accepting these terms does not itself request an early start, waive cancellation rights or give marketing consent.
3.3 We carry out initial suitability and conflict checks before payment and account creation. We may be unable to assist immediately or may need to check further details. During a pending check you have not been charged. We will contact you by email and may ask for further information, which you can provide by replying. Professional confidentiality may prevent us explaining why we cannot assist.
3.4 If we clear a pending check, we will email a secure link returning you to your selected service, appointment and any add-on so you can complete payment. Clearance does not reserve an appointment indefinitely: if the selected time is no longer available, you will be asked to choose another before paying. If we decline, we will notify you that we are unable to assist. If you abandon payment, you are not charged; details collected for that incomplete booking are not used to check other clients for conflicts and are deleted after seven days.
3.5 Your paid order is an offer to purchase. We accept it by sending your booking confirmation email, which confirms your service, price and timetable. A Stripe payment receipt or email-verification message alone is not acceptance. We provide a receipted invoice upon payment and send these terms, cancellation information and any recorded early-start request and acknowledgement in a form you can retain before work begins. You may withdraw before acceptance for a full refund. If we cannot accept a paid order, we will refund it without undue delay and within 14 days. Further checks may be necessary if new information emerges; section 9 applies if an accepted matter must end.
3.6 Each purchase is a one-off service, with no subscription or automatic renewal. Our instructions end when the agreed service is completed, unless ended earlier under these terms. There is no continuing duty to monitor your matter or later changes in law once our service ends. A new service requires a new agreement. Later website changes do not alter an existing contract without your agreement.
4 What our services cover
4.1 Depending on the service selected, our unreserved work may include family law consultations, advice about divorce or separation, financial or children arrangements, a Check Your Deal review of a proposed settlement, and lawful drafting or review of documents. The service description shown before purchase specifies what is included; buying one service does not instruct us on every aspect of your matter.
4.2 We do not conduct litigation, exercise reserved rights of audience, perform reserved instrument activities such as reserved conveyancing work, undertake probate or notarial activities, or administer oaths under these terms. We do not issue, file or serve court proceedings, act on the court record, accept service or represent you at a hearing. Any drafting must remain within work lawfully permitted as an unreserved activity. You must separately instruct an appropriately authorised provider if reserved work is needed.
4.3 Paid advice is specific to your agreed instructions and the information available. Free guides and general website material are general information, not an assessment of your individual case. Neither is a substitute for court representation. We will use reasonable care and skill but cannot guarantee a particular settlement, court decision or approval of a document.
4.4 We do not provide investment, pension-product, tax, benefits, valuation or foreign-law advice, or independently investigate assets, unless a service is expressly and lawfully agreed. Family law advice on a proposed financial settlement is distinct from recommending financial products. We will flag reasonably apparent needs for specialist advice within the work we undertake.
4.5 You remain responsible for filing and service, compliance with court orders and deadlines, and arranging representation. Tell us about hearings and deadlines before ordering. We will identify any deadline-related task we expressly accept and warn you about material deadlines apparent within our work. Our website is not an emergency service. Do not assume that booking transfers responsibility for a deadline to us.
4.6 For Know Your Position, submit your completed questionnaire at least 24 hours before your appointment. For Check Your Deal, we provide the written report within seven calendar days of receiving your completed questionnaire, subject to your cancellation rights and any lawful early-start request under section 8. If you do not request an early start, we will not begin during the cancellation period and will agree the corresponding delivery date before purchase. We tell you the applicable deadline or delivery date when you book, in your confirmation email and in your Ex File, and send reminders. If information is materially incomplete, we will promptly identify what is missing and agree any necessary revised timetable; we do not extend deadlines silently.
4.7 If your questionnaire is late, we may contact you to move or cancel an appointment where we cannot reasonably provide the service properly without it. We will explain the reason and seek to agree a suitable alternative. Rescheduling sends an updated calendar invitation; cancellation sends a cancellation email. There is no automatic forfeiture of your fee because a questionnaire is late. If we cancel, we refund the amount for services not supplied; any retention for work already properly performed must be fair, explained and consistent with sections 8 and 9. Refunds due are processed through Stripe to the original payment method unless otherwise agreed, within the applicable deadline.
4.8 Online appointments take place through Microsoft Teams. Your confirmation, calendar invitation and reminder contain the meeting link, also available through the Join the video call button on your Appointments page. You need a suitable device, internet connection and access to Teams through a supported browser or application. Tell us before booking if you need an accessible alternative. If an appointment is moved, use the updated invitation; if cancelled, its meeting link is withdrawn. If technical difficulties prevent an appointment, contact us promptly so we can agree appropriate next steps, including rearrangement or any refund due.
5 Your instructions and information
5.1 Give us full, honest, accurate and timely information, including relevant correspondence, orders and financial disclosure. Identify missing information and notify us promptly of changes. Supply only documents you are lawfully entitled to use; do not obtain another person’s private material unlawfully.
5.2 We rely on information you supply, but remain responsible for using reasonable care and skill and querying apparent inconsistencies. If missing information affects our advice or timetable, we will explain. Any extra work or price must be agreed in advance; there is no automatic additional fee.
5.3 Check drafts for factual accuracy and tell us about errors promptly. You decide whether to accept advice, sign documents or settle. Your factual checks do not transfer responsibility for our professional errors to you. Keep copies and use a safe email address and contact method, particularly if communications with a former partner present a risk.
5.4 We act for the client identified in the order, not their partner or other relatives. A person paying your fee does not become our client or acquire access to your confidential information. We may require identity and conflict information before acceptance and decline or stop work where professional obligations require it.
6 Prices and payment on booking
6.1 The fixed fee and everything it covers will be shown before you pay. The Ex Files is not VAT registered and does not charge VAT. Mandatory charges will be disclosed in the total price, with a clear breakdown where amounts are payable directly to third parties. We do not add optional extras without your express agreement.
6.2 The agreed fixed fee is payable in full on booking. We provide a written bill for the specified service before taking payment and a receipted invoice upon payment. The advance payment remains subject to your cancellation, termination and refund rights. It is not a non-refundable deposit and does not buy a guaranteed outcome.
6.3 Extra work requires a new written fixed-fee quote and your acceptance before we charge or begin it. Its fee is payable when that additional service is booked. You may decline the quote; we will explain any effect on completing the original instructions. We do not increase an agreed fee retrospectively.
6.4 You pay court fees, expert fees and other third-party charges directly. Before purchase we will distinguish our fee from costs necessary to achieve the outcome described and explain any amounts not reasonably calculable in advance. Any additional legal service you may need from another provider is separately contracted and paid for; we will not suggest our limited service includes it.
6.5 The checkout shows accepted payment methods. An unpaid booking remains unconfirmed. We do not charge late-payment interest or automatic collection charges on an unpaid booking. Any charge for a missed or rearranged appointment must have been separately and fairly disclosed and agreed before purchase; there is no automatic forfeiture of the entire fee under these terms.
7 No client account
7.1 We do not operate a client account or hold, receive or manage client money in any client account. We do not accept settlement funds, court fees, third-party money or funds to hold or pass on for you. Pay those amounts directly to the appropriate recipient. Money sent in error will be dealt with promptly and lawfully, normally by returning it to its source.
7.2 Payment of our billed fixed fee goes into our business account. It is not separately held or ring-fenced for you. If the business becomes insolvent before completing work or making a refund, you may be an unsecured creditor and may not recover the full amount. This explanation does not remove our duty to safeguard money entrusted to us or your legal remedies. Refunds properly due remain our responsibility.
8 Your right to cancel
8.1 As a consumer buying our service online, you may cancel without giving a reason during the 14 days after the day the contract is made. The contract is made on our express acceptance under section 3. You may also withdraw your offer before acceptance. Email info@theexfiles.co.uk or write to our correspondence address with a clear statement of cancellation. You may use the form at the end, but do not have to. It is sufficient to send your notice before the cancellation period expires.
8.2 Unless you separately and expressly request an early start, we will not start the service until the cancellation period ends. We may offer a separate, unticked checkbox for that request at checkout. If you choose not to request it, your service starts after the period, within the agreed timetable. Merely accepting these terms or making payment is not an early-start request.
8.3 If you requested an early start and cancel after work has begun, you pay only the proportion of the agreed total price corresponding to services actually supplied up to cancellation, where the law permits. If that total price is excessive, the calculation is based on the market value of what was supplied. We will explain the calculation. No such charge is payable where we failed to give the required cancellation information or obtain the required express request.
8.4 You lose the statutory cancellation right only after the whole service has been performed, and only if performance began following your express request and your prior acknowledgement that full performance would end that right. Starting work alone does not end it. Delivery of a bespoke document by email does not automatically make your service non-cancellable.
8.5 We will refund payment due following withdrawal or cancellation without undue delay and within 14 days after being informed of your decision, using the original payment method unless you expressly agree otherwise, without a refund fee. We may deduct only a lawful charge under clause 8.3. Statutory extensions of the cancellation period for missing information remain available. Rights concerning defective services are unaffected.
8.6 These terms concern professional services, even where advice or drafts are delivered electronically. Any separately sold standalone digital content requiring different cancellation information will be identified before purchase and will require any separate express consent and acknowledgement required by law; acceptance of these terms alone does not waive digital-content cancellation rights.
9 Ending instructions and problems with our service
9.1 You may end our instructions at any time by email. Outside section 8, we will retain only a fair proportion of the agreed fixed fee for services properly performed up to termination, not more than that fee, and refund the balance within 14 days. There is no automatic penalty or forfeiture. Any separate liabilities you directly incur with third parties are governed by those arrangements and your legal rights.
9.2 We may stop or suspend work for a good reason, such as a conflict, unlawful instructions, a serious breakdown in cooperation, or inability to act competently or lawfully. We will explain where permitted, give reasonable notice where possible, identify known outstanding steps and deadlines, and provide work completed and documents you supplied. We will refund fees for services not supplied and not charge for correcting our own errors.
9.3 If we fail to provide the service with reasonable care and skill or as agreed, your statutory rights remain available. These may include repeat performance at no cost, within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience, or an appropriate price reduction, potentially a full refund, where the law provides. You do not have to accept repeat performance when another remedy is available. A refund owed under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 will be made within its required timescale.
10 Our responsibility to you
10.1 We are responsible for foreseeable loss caused by our breach of contract or failure to use reasonable care and skill. Loss is foreseeable if it is an obvious consequence or was contemplated by you and us when the contract was made. We are not responsible for loss to the extent it was not caused by our breach or was not reasonably foreseeable.
10.2 These standard website terms do not impose a fixed financial cap on our liability. The insurance limit is a limit on insurance, not on your claim against us. Insurance exclusions, the excess, defence costs and other claims do not reduce any compensation we legally owe you. We do not exclude a foreseeable personal financial loss by calling it indirect, consequential or economic.
10.3 Nothing excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any liability or remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded or restricted. Your statutory consumer and data protection rights and the powers of the Legal Ombudsman and SRA are unaffected.
10.4 Our advice is for you and the purpose agreed. Others may not rely on it without our written agreement. We are not responsible to the extent a loss is caused by use outside that purpose, undisclosed material facts or unauthorised alteration, but this does not excuse our negligence or failure to make reasonable enquiries within the agreed service. You should take reasonable steps to minimise loss.
11 Confidentiality
11.1 We keep your matter confidential, including after instructions end. Information is disclosed only with your authority, where reasonably necessary to deliver the service using appropriate safeguards, or where required or permitted by law or professional obligations. Necessary recipients may include service providers, insurers, professional advisers, regulators or a complaints body. We explain disclosure where lawful and appropriate. Legal professional privilege applies where its legal requirements are satisfied.
12 Personal information
12.1 Rachael Harwin trading as The Ex Files is the controller of personal information used for our services. We process it under the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and other applicable data protection law, as amended. Our Privacy Notice, made available on our website and before checkout, explains the purposes, lawful bases, recipients, retention, transfers, your rights and how to contact us. You can request a copy at info@theexfiles.co.uk.
12.2 We use an appropriate lawful basis for each purpose, such as performing our contract, complying with legal duties or justified legitimate interests. Special category and criminal offence information require additional lawful conditions and safeguards. Acceptance of these terms is not blanket consent to data processing or marketing, and does not authorise disclosure of another person’s information unlawfully.
12.3 We restrict access to those who need it, use appropriate security and contractual safeguards and apply lawful safeguards to international transfers. Records are kept only for justified periods explained in the Privacy Notice, then securely deleted or anonymised. Contact us to exercise applicable data rights; you may also complain to the Information Commissioner at ico.org.uk.
13 Complaints and redress
13.1 Send any complaint about the service or a bill to Rachael Harwin at info@theexfiles.co.uk, or at Office 171956, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL. Explain the issue and the outcome you seek. Complaints are free. Rachael will acknowledge within five working days, investigate fairly and aim to provide a reasoned final response within eight weeks. She will explain any delay, the proposed remedy and your escalation rights. As sole practitioner, she handles the internal process; this does not affect independent external redress.
13.2 Eligible clients may complain to the Legal Ombudsman about Rachael Amelia Harwin’s legal services, notwithstanding that The Ex Files is not an SRA-authorised firm. You may refer a complaint after our final response or once eight weeks have passed without resolution. The Ombudsman decides its jurisdiction and eligibility.
13.3 Normally you must refer the complaint within one year of the act or omission, or within one year of when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint, and within six months of our properly signposted final response. The Ombudsman can extend limits where fair and reasonable. Contact www.legalombudsman.org.uk, enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk or 0300 555 0333. We will repeat the relevant details and deadlines in our final response.
13.4 Concerns about a solicitor’s professional conduct may be reported to the SRA at www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/. It does not ordinarily decide service or compensation disputes. At the end of an unresolved internal complaint, we will also identify a competent alternative dispute resolution body and explain whether we are obliged or willing to use it, where required by law. This does not replace any applicable Legal Ombudsman rights or prevent court proceedings.
14 Governing law and other terms
14.1 The law of England and Wales governs this contract. Its courts have exclusive jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory consumer rights to bring proceedings elsewhere or rely on protections of the law of your habitual residence.
14.2 If a provision is unenforceable, the others continue where they can operate fairly. A delay in enforcing a right is not a waiver. No term removes binding pre-contract information or responsibility for representations on which the law allows you to rely. Changes affecting an existing order require your express agreement unless required by law; they do not remove accrued rights.
Optional cancellation form
Complete and return this form only if you wish to cancel. You can instead email any clear statement of cancellation. No signature is required for an email cancellation.
To: Rachael Harwin trading as The Ex Files, Office 171956, PO Box 7169, Poole, BH15 9EL; info@theexfiles.co.uk.
I/We hereby give notice that I/We cancel my/our contract for the supply of the following service:
____________________________________________________________________
Ordered on: ________________________________________________________
Name of consumer(s): _________________________________________________
Address of consumer(s): ________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Signature of consumer(s), only if this form is sent on paper:
____________________________________________________________________
Date: ______________________________________________________________
Delete as appropriate. An order reference, if available, may help us locate your booking but is not required to cancel.