Confused!

[needssomesun]

Hi, my husband and I separated 18 months ago and he has filed for divorce using a solicitor. The solicitor has sent me the forms but the cost of divorce is around £1500 of which they want me to pay half. I said I'd pay half the cost of the divorce but I thought he'd be filling directly at the court which is around £400.

I've tried speaking to my husband and offered to do it myself to save him the hassle but he wants the solicitor to deal with it as I'm apparently "trying to rip him off" 🤔

Am I right in thinking that the divorce is a separate process to the financial settlement? So I/he could file for divorce with the court directly but use a solicitor for the settlement?

Yes they are separate -- or can be. (Mine were). Wish i'd known this at the time because i had solicitors for both - mostly because of disagreement over contact (we have a child together). Even so mediation would have been cheaper (and kinder) option. The settlement i got basically just covered the legal costs. Pathetic waste of money all around.

Thanks, my solicitor has said that her fees are likely to be between £1-3k unless it goes to court, does this sound reasonable?

Yes it does. I filed my own divorce and you really don't need a solicitor. For the financial order though get some advise but you could use mediation which will
Minimise costs. The best solution is to agree it between yourself and then have a lawyer check it to make sure you are being treated fairly.