It touches on the above information in this PDF. Just put divorce into the search once you download the PDF and you’ll find the references. In a nutshell it says the courts cannot make a decision on a marriage contract if all parties do not consent. In other words the parties to the contract are the ones who have to come to an agreement before the courts can pass judgement. The lawyers usually do this on their clients behalf but each party has the absolute right to not consent to anything they don’t agree with and to negotiate a better deal if there is no evidence of a breach of contract such as infidelity (infidelity with proof is a breach of contract and can nullify the marriage contract). If honest lawyers are engaged then they will probably work out the best deal for their client or if unscrupulous lawyers are engaged then they will probably just string their client along to ensure they keep getting paid whilst not really doing anything. it’s best not to use a lawyer unless you know of an honest lawyer who will defend your mother’s right to non consent to divorce and who will fight tooth and nail for her. A three step process could probably be used to attain a private agreement. If you already know how to do this, you could help your mother complete a three step process with affidavit. It would be a private agreement between her and her husband and no lawyer has a right to intervene in a private agreement, if they try to then they would be a third party interloper. They can work for their client/the husband but they can’t tell the other party/your mum what to do or intervene in a private agreement (unless the husbands lawyers get the consent of your mum to do so).