Divorce costs

My Partner(respondent)agreed the draft divorce petition with his Stbx'(petitioner)solicitor which stated that 'the Respondent may be ordered to pay the costs of this suit if defended'.....when the actual divorce petition came through from the court the line stating 'if defended' has been crossed through in black ink.

We have the original draft document signed by the stbx. is it worth persuing this or does he need to offer other reasons for not agreeing to pay her costs?(reason for divorce is adultery)

Thanks for the response.

He would have no issue in paying apart from the fact that he is paying all the mortgage and council tax (since he left 18 months ago) while she and 3 other adults live in the FMH bringing in a substantial amount between them. but he is being a man and doing the right thing by her.

It is simply a fact that he was advised by her solicitor (and she herself by signing the draft) that he wouldn't be requested to pay her costs.

Also stbx is in a relationship of her own

Why is he effectively paying to house four working adults?

That seems daft rather than doing the right thing

Because 2 of them are his kids (although both in their 20s) and also because he wants to make sure the mortgage doesn;t default....

anyway, back to my original question....

If you commit adultery then you pay the cost of the divorce, unless, as in my case, you make an agreement that you each pay half . It was £575 each.
If you had defended the Petition, which is pointless, then you would have been pursued for the costs involved in fighting your defence, which would have been far costlier.
If defended has been crossed through because your not defending it.
This is only for the divorce itself, not for anything else that may follow.
By the way, her solicitor originally wanted nearly £1300, but I told them I thought it was too much and offered them £500 for my share, we settled on £575

What should happen is the Petition is sent to the respondent as a draft to be agreed before it goes to court, you should also agree costs as Hugh has said, costs can be negotiated as a % or a fixed sum.

If no agreement can be made then a judge decides who will pay at the Nisi hearing, if both attend and the respondent can afford to pay the presumption is the judge will order the respondent to pay reasonable costs.

'the Respondent may be ordered to pay the costs of this suit if defended'.....when the actual divorce petition came through from the court the line stating 'if defended' has been crossed through in black ink.

The above is not underhand or unusual in fact its standard practice with solicitors.