A settlement can be negotiated between the parties, with the assistance of their solicitors, without the need to go to Court.
This can help to minimise the legal fees incurred by both sides.
If an agreement is reached in this way it will then be checked by the Court to ensure that it is reasonable and endorsed by them to make it a legally binding order.
The majority of cases can be agreed in this way.
If an agreement cannot be reached in this manner, either due to one or both parties being uncooperative or unreasonable, then it will be necessary to go to Court to achieve an agreement. The downside of the Courts ruling on a settlement is that a degree of control is lost by both parties as to the eventual terms of the settlement.