How much did your divorce cost and how did you finance it?

[PPaka]

And was it straightforward or contested?
I have no idea how people do it

[CogitoErgoSometimes]

As we'd agreed the division of the very few assets between us already and as there were no children involved, the divorce cost each of us a few hundred only.

[questionablelegality]

I refinanced the house and took 10,000 out in equity. The Ex was too stupid to notice and just signed on the dotted line. I cashed the check when it came in and put the cash in a safe deposit box my friend had.The bank statement with the cashing of the check on it just didnt show up and again Ex was too stupid to notice ( it was in the days before on line banking was common). When I had to supply 3 years worth of financial stuff to his lawyer,I handed over all the bank statements bar that one,no one noticed.I had done this almost a year prior to filing for divorce figuring they would go through the more recent ones more thoroughly. I had a plan you see

The divorce cost me 9,500 because the ex was too stupid to know he was beat and couldnt intimidate the judge or my bulldog lawyer.

[littleblackno]

I can't remember exactly. I know I got legal aid for the most part (4years ago) but there were some things I had to pay for such as mediation, court fees and the legal costs of remortgaging to get his name off. I had some savings, my dad gave me some money and some got added to the mortgage.
I've no idea what it cost him.

[meikyo]

£18000.... Still paying the loan off...nightmare

[Pleasetryan0ther]

£400 quid, he paid. (I think he wanted to move in with his new GF). Amicable and no complex finances, we'd split the house and I didn't want his pension, which I am sure I will regret when I am old and drinking tea from a jar.

[MuttonCadet]

£410, no solicitors, agreed a sensible split of assets, I paid it out of my monthly wages.
DH cost him £5k, but that's because of the solicitors involvement, his ex would have paid similar - which was almost all the equity they had.........

[wiseoldowl]

There is a specific question on the form e..have you or do you intend to move in with new partner. My XH lied!
I went to court on a principal...was told if he had & we went to final hearing judge would want her finances....I couldnt afford to stick to my principles & continue.
What could I do..take him to court for fraud? I couldn't afford it.

[RollerCola]

About £800 fixed fees for my solicitor. That includes court fees. We have 2 dcs and a house, H is not using a solicitor. We have agreed finances ourselves amicably.

[mrscynical]

About £4k but his cost £25k. I had no money but paid the solicitor back monthly once it was sorted out. I came out relatively well and was satisfied with the result. This was a good few years ago now and he is now divorcing his third wife! He has nothing left

[Follyfoot]

About £11,000 and that was about 15 years ago.

[handfulofcottonbuds]

Thanks for clarifying that angel. I think I'm in for a long fight

[angel1976]

handfulofcottonbuds - There is a specific question on the financial form that asks if either of you have any intention of moving in with a new partner within the next 6 months. The mediator lawyer explained it in the way that while you cannot claim on their joint income, you can argue that because they have moved in together or planning to move in together your STBXH will now have a higher disposable income because his costs are now lower. You can claim that because he has a higher disposable income, you should have more of it (if you need it). But I think it's one of those things that I really have no idea how you can prove and also I have a feeling if the other party denies and denies it, it could go on and on and incur more and more legal costs.

[handfulofcottonbuds]

wiseoldowl - I am getting more and more anxious about mediation now having been totally NC for a month. I was told that a court requires mediation too unless the OH is abusive and it won't work.

I thought the moving in would work in my advantage but I know that the judge doesn't look at blame but the fairest way for all. I know they won't take OW's income into account but between them they earn approximately £150k a year and I'm on £22k.

Sorry to derail thread PPaka

[wiseoldowl]

Cotton
my Xh moved in with Ow after 6 months...my mum saw his clothes going in the house! But he always denied it,I revisited & revisited,kept on & on with sols but no advantage whatsoever..
Judge said whether or not he was with ow he still had to have house/money to live (grrr even though their house paid for by her ex settlement).

[wiseoldowl]

Oh,also looking at cotton buds post re mediation...which we did,& apparently court requires now.
Had 2 sessions (hardest thing I've ever had to do,control my emotions in a room with a philanderer.
We reached agreement, he was going to get sol to write it up. Then 2 days later changed his mind (equivalent of a months wages down the drain,not to mention emotional distress..went on ADs at this point).

[handfulofcottonbuds]

angel1976 - my solicitor has asked whether my H intends to move in with OW within 6 months as this may affect a settlement, he refuses to answer it although has told me he will move in with her in the Spring.

Does anyone know if it works in my favour if he does move in with OW?

[wiseoldowl]

Approx £11k.
XH hid money when completing legal form (as well as splitting up friends marriage for OW) so very acrimonious but went NC (still am 3 years later).
Divorce can be cheaper if sols not involved but once that happens IMO they know how to milk the situation & don't actually help.
I paid for mine with some savings,by paying monthly dd & rest on interest free credit card balance transfer. 6 months to go.
If XH died tomorrow it couldn't be soon enough.

[Minime85]

have been quoted roughly £1,200 for divorce itself £420 then the rest is my solicitor fees. not sure how I will pay for it yet, that assuming it stays amicable and ex doesn't contest anything.

[angel1976]

About £5K for mediation so far. STBXH chose an expensive legal firm located behind Selfridges in London. And in fact, I ended up coming off better as she got me some stuff I did not expect from STBXH and he wanted the mediation... TWAT. He paid for this as he wanted it and I wanted no part of it, we had already agreed mostly how we would split our assets.

I chose my own lawyer to file the initial paperwork for the decree nisi. Estimated costs are about £1000 (included fixed court cost of £410). We will split this as he was whinging about paying for mediation. My parents have given me some money so I will pay my half out of that.

STBXH will then pay for his legal team to draft up the consent order and to file for the decree absolute. Again, this shouldn't cost much as we have done the basics in the mediation sessions we did.

Can't f**king wait for that to happen so I can move on. P.S. Not that it matters but STBXH left me for OW, though he insisted there was no affair when he left. But less than 6 months after he left, she had moved into his place. Whatever! I am well rid.

[SlightlyDampWellies]

No DCs together.

I think it was and is unbelievable. It has now been more than a decade since the settlement, and he/we are still counting every penny and remortgaging. There is alot of background to this but Dh actually sued his own lawyers for bad advice and won, but that meant very little in the end.

[jayho]

Mine cost me about £50k and him about £120k. He took barristers to every hearing insisted on everything going to final hearing, lost every time. I offered to do it low cost through mediation, would have been about £1800 each. Tosser. Oh and he had to pay it all, the judge described him as malicious and bunged my fees on top of my settlement, so not an award for fees, Helium's right, they don't like doing that, buy he made sure I didn't lose out because of ex's actions.

[handfulofcottonbuds]

wellies - that is unbelievable. Did they have DCs or was it all down the ExW's legal firm?

[SlightlyDampWellies]

Oh, and how did he finance it? He sold the family farm. And had to start again from scratch.

[EveryGoodBoyDeservesFun]

Approx £10k 10 years ago, but included the conveyancing fees for the new house I had to buy. Wasn't straightforward (though it should have been but he and his solicitor made it very acrimonious).

Financed from the final divorce settlement but I had to pay an interim payment of £1500 which I had to sell my car to fund.