friends ex wants divorce but wants her to pay

[hermesgrrrr]

Friend has been separated from her ex for a number of years, he has been in touch to say he wants a divorce (wants to remarry) and she has to pay £550, according to "the solicitor" he has seen. No children/assets together so very simple process.

The separation was due to his non-disclosure of being on a "register" and was in no way her fault.

Logic tells me that if he wants a divorce, he pays, right?

Yup. He wants it, he can pay. What a twat.

Oh and she should make sure that the document with the reasons for the divorce are sent to his new house so his next wife can find out the truth before she marries him!

That is the full amount for the court fee. Tell her to do nothing and let him sort it out

Yes, that's true, but I would want to divorce him - why on earth does she want that connection with him?

Thank you for the responses.. She has and wants nothing to do with him, wants the divorce but is stunned he wants her to pay. Just trying to clarify if at any stage she is liable for the amount.

meant to add that she is seeing a CAB solicitor but appointment isn't until some time in May. Just wanted advice so I can reassure her that she won't have to pay out.

It depends what he told the solicitor the reasons for the divorce are.

I am divorcing my husband for unreasonable behaviour - the 'blame' lies clearly with him. My solicitor pushed for him to cover the divorce costs and he will be paying £800 of my costs, which covers court fees and some of the solicitor fees.

Sounds as though she should get a solicitor and push back, as in these circumstances I don't believe she should pay, but he may well have told his solicitor that she is to blame for the split

They can file the papers themselves without using lawyers and he can pay the fee.

If he wants it, he can sort it out.

Tell her to just say no.

She should contact local solicitors, most will give her a free initial consultation, during which they can discuss this and review any paperwork his solicitors have sent to decide best course of action. I did this with a couple of different solicitors while choosing mine and found them all to be very helpful and not hard sell at all.

No papers have been served yet so no idea what grounds he will use, guess it's a waiting game. She was just very worried that he wants £550 from her, she doesn't have it and even if she did he needs to pay. She just needs a bit of reassurance tbh so thank you for your replies.

Is he asking for it now? If so he is definitely trying it on!! That's not the way it works. In my case my solicitors put in a request for it on X grounds, there was some back and forth between solicitors, and then it was agreed. However I am paying all the monthly fees throughout the divorce, and he will only pay that fee once the divorce is concluded, when my solicitors will invoice him for it.

She is definitely not required to pay anything at all now, and will have plenty of official warning and discussion around it long before it were due. (Though it won't be, as no judge will enforce it if the split is due to him being on 'a register' she wasn't aware of)

Why on earth is he using a solicitor if they e been separated for years and there are no assets/kids ? It always stuns me that people will spend £100's on having someone else to fill in some forms !

It really it's t difficult. Go to county/combined court office. Ask for 'divorce pack' . Fill in forms (3 sets of the petition) send one to wife (or husband) . Split fee between you await the Nisi - 6 Weeks later apply for absolute. Honestly it's not hard !! I've done it for at least 15 friends and colleagues over the years..

Of course if there are difficulties, money arguments, disagreement over children then a solicitor is invaluable. But not for a straightforward divorce.
As for fees, divorce on the grounds of 2 yrs separation and split the £550 cost between both parties. This includes the absolute.