just received draft petition for divorce

Hi all, I need some advioe.
Ex2b and myself decided in February to separate. Divorce was going to be 2 years separation, FMH was put on the market and equity was agreed to be divided 50:50. It was a mutual decision. Been married 3 and half years. No kids. House and mortgage in joint names. Due to costs we stayed in FMH but slept in different bedrooms for the first month. Ex2b made life too intolerable so i moved out, with ex2b knowledge, into friend of family's spare room. After a further month apart i began a relationship with this friend.
Ex2b has now filed for divorce on grounds of adultery, has got his solicitors to draw up a minute of Consent Order, and is claiming all his solicitor's costs from myself.
As i can't really afford a solicitor at the moment i would like some advice as to whether he can claim these costs? Also he is refusing to reduce the house price, currently priced too high to sell, and is demanding i continue to pay half the mortgage payments.

Can anyone offer advice that can help me out.

You can file the Acknowledgement of service and disute costs if you wish

A number of things to consider
1. Is Ex on legal aid -if so the costs are relatively small say £200 as the court fees are exempt. Not worth challenging as if you lose the issue the other side's legal fees can be claimed on a full indemnity basis so the costs of the hearing to determine the issue could be c £400-500!

2. If Ex is privately paying the costs will be c £650 + VAT + Crt fees so c £1110.

Options:

1. Do nowt and pay up

2. Offer a contribution towards costs say £5-600 so essentially each are paying broadly 50%

3.You have technically comitted adultery so that must be born in mind. Nevertheless the DJ has a discretion and he/she may be persuaded that your offer by way of contribution is fair given the facts. You will have to set out fully in a letter the behaviour of your H that you could have based a Petition on and that notwithstanding that the plan was to file for a 2 yr separation divorce and so if that had been the case the costs offer was not unreasonable. File letter with Court and tell the o/s that you wish to argue the point at the Decree Nisi hearing. Tell them that your offer of say £555 is an open offer and if you have to attend Court and the DJ agrees with you you will seek an order for costs of and incidental to the hearing in any event"

Hi Lisa
I am not a lawyer so may not be correct.
I suspect the answers depend on your relative incomes etc. No children makes it easier. I don't think that the reason for divorce (ie adultery rather 2 yr separation) makes any real difference.
Not sure he can claim all costs, I have been advised that both bear their own costs. If his income is greater he may be persuaded to contribute more.
I suspect your situation would be an equal split of assets and possibly some maintenance depending on your circumstances. Re house sale if he wants to keep it then he will have to pay out your share.
I would suggest some legal advice, especially if he has filed a petition.
Good luck
Alan

Now it is just not possible for anyone to give an opinion on whether it is fair for you to pay 50% of mortgage as we do not know any details of inc/capital etc.

Given H is living there on the face of it he can pay but of course we don't know his/your financial position. Yes you are probably contractually bound to pay 50% of the contractual mortgage payments but you will also be paying keep where you are!

If you are not in the ppty there is a huge risk H pay put off buyers and drive price down and then buy for a lot less in many months time?
If this is a risk ensure the EA contract excludes either party and I would strongly suggest accompanied viewing so EA has a key and H cannot stall with viewings etc.

It seems that the financial agreement {MOA} needs careful checking so all these provisions can be incorporated.

Both incomes very similar. ex2b can only afford to stay in FMH as i'm paying half of mortgage. Luckily my new partner paying rent on property but still not left with much after mortgage paid. Ex2b got fmh price too high so not selling and not willing to reduce. Only about 40K in equity. No pensions or other incomes/savings to worry about. Estate agents are accompanied viewing. My main issue is whether he can claim all his solicitor's costs. The rest of it i think i'm Ok with.

This is scarily like my situation but I'm a bit further down the road......

The divorce petition - it is best to agree with your x2b how the costs will be split before the petition is submitted. However, if it has been submitted with a request for you to pay costs then return the acknowledgement of service stating that you have offered to pay £x of the costs, you shouldn't be required to pay the rest of the costs because your adultery was not the cause of the break up and asking the court to order you to pay £x of the costs.

The house - my x2b was obstructive on the house sale and it took a letter from my solicitor before she dropped the price. The she was procrastinating over an offer we'd had until the judge at our first hearing put her on the spot. If it goes to court then a judge will not be impressed if she has obstructed the sale but I'm not sure there's much you can do about it. Keep any communications you've had with her about the price of the house and make sure it includes evidence for why the price should be dropped, including letters from the estate agent and prices of similar house.