Help with divorce costs?please help!

[gettingridofdickhead]

I want to file for divorce but I'm terrified I will get into debt. I'm on income support at the moment. Will I get much help? Has anyone else gone through divorce while on income support?

You can get court fee exemption using form ex160.

Are you using a solicitor?

I haven't been to a solicitor yet as I know they do half hour free but then I don't know what happens afterwards? I'm so worried about getting billed something that I can't afford

Ask around for solicitors that will let you pay in instalments. .

Firstly sorry to hear You're going through a divorce.

Is your divorce likely to be amicable? Have you agreed on financial splits and child access arrangements? If you have agreed all that & It's a straightforward divorce you can do it yourself. Google "do it yourself divorce" and you'll find kits. You will still have to pay the court fees unless you qualify for any exempton/reduction.

However, if there is disagreement over finances or children or It's acrimonious I would suggest you see a solicitor. It may cost you more in the long run if you can't agree.

The thing to remember is that divorce just ends the marriage. It doesn't sort out any financial asset splitting or child custody issues.

In your shoes I'd definitely go to see a solicitor for a free half hour.

Is it possible to end up in debt though with a divorce? I'm worrying so much about it I can't sleep. We are sort of amicable but he says that any debts that he's taken out in his name are still my responsibility so any money that we get from the house which is also in his name will also be both ours and so that would be used to pay off the debts. I just feel like I'm being played and I feel so unintelligent

Unfortunately the thing about the debts is true. Unless you can prove he spent on himself (drugs, women, etc), it's marital debt. I went through it with my divorce. I lost all but £2000 as my share of the house went to cover 'my' share of his debts. 😔

I'm not too concerned about any money as such that I get back I think it's more that I'm scared if I'm the one to file for it that il be left with the costs which I can't afford if it goes tits up and I don't get it all covered. He's filed for divorce under unreasonable behaviour and says it's the only way he can go about it because it's either that or adultery which I haven't committed but he has! I hate been seen as the bad guy in all this and it makes me so upset that he gets his divorce but and he gets his slag in the end but I can't divorce him on grounds of adultery because I have no money to do so!

Hi
You can get the £550 divorce fee waived. There is an online divorce fee calculator, you put details of your income and savings into it and then it tells you if you are entitled to have the fee waived. It tells you straightaway and will give you a reference number. You then need to print the divorce form off online, and there is a space on the form which asks for the divorce fee waiver reference number. You can divorce him on grounds of adultery and it won't cost you a penny. I have just divorced my husband on grounds of unreasonable behaviour, I had the fee waived due to low income. I started the process on 9th June and tomorrow I apply for the decree absolute. It was really easy to do, just google 'divorce forms' or 'divorce petition form' and 'divorce fee waiver'. Good luck

No one else knows or cares what grounds are used, and judges and lawyers know full well that the reasons on paper are often not the real reason. Just write on the acknowledgement that his adultery is the real reason, but you don't want to defend for financial reasons.

The purpose of the free half hour (if a solicitor offers it at all) is to see if you are suited and to give people (who may never have thought about divorce and possibly still upset ) some idea of what is involved, likely issues and possible approaches in your sepecific case. Also how/when they bill

It's not going to answer your detailed legal questions for free.

And, as debt is involved, I think these are circumstances where you cannot afford to do without legal advice. So see a few firms, see what they recommend you need to do and how you can pay (in instalments, including after settlement when you might have more disposable cash?)

As you negotiate the divorce, you will both have to fill in a form detailing all your assets and liabilities (debts), and income, outgoings etc.

In terms of the grounds for the divorce, try to look at this without emotion. If the best course for you is to get divorced as quickly as possible, with as little cost as possible, then just let him file for divorce on grounds of unreasonable behaviour. Only the court will see the papers, and the court really won't care. Try to separate the process from the emotional background, and think of it as a means to an end - ie. getting rid! Let him file and bear the costs himself.

Good luck.

@Brakebackcyclebot I really want to just do that and just be rid but it's just really bothering me how he seems to have gotten away with this. The petition was sent to me today and the reasons are pathetic.

"She would ring me at work because she couldn't handle the kids"

gettingrid, I can see how frustrated you feel about the petition and the statement he's written. Give yourself a bit of time to think it all through. It's only arrived today.
Think about your main aim - is it to get divorced as easily as possible, with minimum of fuss - for you & your children?

Is care of the children agreed?