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My wife is in the process of filing a divorce petition against me. I have seen a draft of the petition and it states that the costs will be met by me, the respondent.
She'd previously told me that she was going to cover the costs of the divorce herself and I know she sent her solicitor a cheque for the court fees.
What does the costs actually mean? Her solicitor's costs? I'm not using a solicitor as i can't afford one. Is there any way I can protect my position regarding costs when the paperwork finally lands with me?
Thanks in advance.
To the best of my knowledge, she can't recover her solicitors costs from you, and I think the court fee is up to you. However, I'm not an expert on this by any means, and it's possible that this has changed anyway since my divorce. We don't have legal experts in divorce on on here, so I would suggest that you either contact the Citizens Advice Bureau or see if you can get a free initial consultation with a specialist divorce lawyer and ask then. I would be interested to know the answer, so would appreciate if you can post back here with how you get on.
Hi there,
My divorce was 2 years ago, my ex filed the divorce and tried to get me to coverage fees, my solicitor wrote back saying we wouldn't agree to the fees coming our way as it was her choice to file the divorce, she stated my lack of interest in the relationship as reason, so we countered with the same claims.
I would contest the fees, you may not win but don't just accept then, she can't reclaim solicitors fees from you though I'm pretty sure if that was possible my ex would have tried as she was out for everything she could get.
Darren
Hi, Thanks for the replies.
When you say you contested the fees and counter claimed, what were the fees in question? The cost of the petition only?
And what was the counter claim? Did you have to put in a cross petition?
It was the cost of the petition that I contested, the counter claim was the same as hers, lack of commitment to the relationship.
When the divorce papers arrived there was a place to answer if you will accept the cost of the divorce as i can remember.
I've seen the place on the paperwork where I can say that I don't agree to pay the costs. Any idea what I could put in there to substantiate it? Something like, she wanted the divorce and not me and if I am expected to pay the costs I will contest the statement of case?
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