Ordered to pay costs of divorce

[unsurewhathappened]

Despite writing on the petition that the petitioner had agreed to pay costs and sending a letter with the email confirming this.

What is my next step?

[Collaborate]

Has decree nisei been pronounced, or have you just received notification of the date on which it will be pronounced?

Assuming it's the latter, send your evidence of the agreement to the court, ask that it be it before the judge before the date for decree nisei, and if you haven't heard from the court before the date of nisi that there will be no order for costs, you'll have to turn up on nisi to argue your case, and tell the court in advance, and your spouse, that you'll be doing that.

[unsurewhathappened]

No i just recieved the decree nisi, i sent a letter to the court with the email where he agreed to pay costs a week before the hearing. I phoned the court and was assured all would be ok.

I was unable to attend due to it being 4 hours by train and at 10am plus no childcare.

[Collaborate]

Write to the court initially. Ask them to put it in front of the judge. Chances are the judge never saw it.

[unsurewhathappened]

Thanks for your reply, this is what the first page of the two pieces of paper says that i received from the court.

The district judge

Upon making the decree nisi ordered that the respondent pay the costs incurred on behalf of the petitioner in this cause to be asses if not agreed.

I can't figure out if means i need to pay or not?

[Collaborate]

Write in to court with your evidence (email?) of his agreement to drop costs, and ask that costs be assessed as nil.

[OutToGetYou]

Pay it and tell your ex to reimburse you?

[unsurewhathappened]

I will write again thanks collaborate. Assume my last letter to court before the court date got lost in the system.

Outtogetyou. My ex is high conflict. We agreed he would pay costs of divorce. Yet he has purposefully ticked boxes to ask me to pay.

We also agreed to a summer schedule for the children which he decided he wanted to change two days before summer and has completely ignored me telling him i have already made plans in my time with the children and is still insisting that i give in to his demands.

[thisisafakename]

Is he legally represented? Do you know what his costs are? If he is the petitioner, he will already have paid the petition fee. You could just agree the matter in writing between the two of you, despite the costs order.

It's routine for costs to be ordered against the respondent where the petition is based on adultery or unreasonable behaviour. The letter probably didn't make its way in front of the judge, or the judge might have read it and just ordered costs anyway because the petitioner had requested it in the petition.

[unsurewhathappened]

No he's not legally represented. His costs are just the court fees. He is desperate to remarry and we are divorcing on the grounds of two year seperation. He has a good job and I'm currently on benefits.

Unfortunately we cannot discuss anything in writing as he has a way of completely ignoring what i say. He is manipulative and controlling and does not stop threatening until he gets his own way.

[thisisafakename]

Upon making the decree nisi ordered that the respondent pay the costs incurred on behalf of the petitioner in this cause to be asses if not agreed

Basically, it means that you have to pay his legal costs (solicitors' costs plus the petition fee and the application for decree absolute). If you can't agree between yourselves, the court will take a view on what is a reasonable amount. However, the only costs here are the petition and DA fees because he has not used a solicitor. There are no costs for the court to assess.

If he has agreed in writing to pay the fee, you should write to the court with a copy of his email/letter confirming this and ask for the matter to be placed before the district judge and for the costs order to be amended to read that each party pays their own costs. Remember to put the case number on the letter to ensure that it does not go astray.

In the meantime, you don't have to do anything. The court doesn't really care because the money has already been paid to them. The order just entitles your ex to try to reclaim the money he has already paid from you. As you have already technically agreed costs, you could just ignore the order as the court won't enforce it of its own motion. However, it is worth trying to get it changed in case your ex is sneaky and will try to enforce the order at a later date.

[thisisafakename]

on the grounds of two year seperation

Gosh, that's definitely a case for each party to bear their own costs. 2 years separation is no-fault so there is no reason why the respondent should bear the costs. Where adultery or behaviour are the basis for the petition, you can kind of justify it on the basis that the law is actually attributing fault to the respondent, but this can't be said for 2 years separation.

[unsurewhathappened]

I see that i should have been sent a form d61 along with the decree Nisi, the divorce is going through bury St Edmunds which i understand are very busy due to changes. Could this be a mistake?

I have tried calling the court but cannot get through.

[thisisafakename]

I see that i should have been sent a form d61 along with the decree Nisi

I think the D61 is just the costs order- ie the bit where it says the judge has ordered you to pay costs. If you look at the bottom of the form, it should hopefully say D61 on it in tiny letters.

[unsurewhathappened]

Yes you are right I've had another look. I've sent another letter with email attached. He will definitely try to pursue the costs. As he is unable to stick to an agreement.