Court Costs

[Noodlebear]

Hello,

My son's father has made an application to the court for access and I've been served with all the relevant information and a date. It should be fairly straightforward, he's wasting everyone's time in all honesty - but I have no idea about the costs of anything as there is no mention of it. Will I be made to pay? I can see that he has had to be a fee to get things going but I really can't afford all this.

Thanks in advance xx

 

[DobbyForever]

Sorry to hear that!

I’m in the US, so hopefully someone in your area can shed more specific light. But ultimately your costs will boil down to whether you lawyer up and whether he drags this out. I’m in the US, and I have to sue my ex every time I want to go away for a weekend. In November and December this year alone, 7 court dates with 3 being trials. My lawyer only charges me $150/hour, but my subpoenas and filings and her time are in the 20-30k USD range in a single year. My ex’s strat is to drive me insane and into debt so I drop child support. Eye roll.

I know that most costs he doesn’t have to pay me back. Supervised visitations that we split, most of costs. But one time I shouldn’t have had to sue him so he had to pay that and anything related to getting a restraining order he has to pay. But I make 85k and him 120k so the courts don’t see the need to make him pay for my family law costs.

My suggestion is find a local family law attorney who does a free consult and get those questions answered.

Best of luck and hopefully someone in the UK comes by soon!

 

[Noodlebear]

Oh God that sounds awful! How stressful.

I have spoken to a solicitor already and had the free half hour consultation but I was trying to cram so much into it that I actually completely didn't even think about costs and am now a bit worried I'm going to be landed with a big bill. I might request that he pays for any court costs as he's stopped paying maintenance etc. Fingers crossed someone here can shed some more light on the situation.

Thanks for your reply and I hope your circumstances improve!

 

[DobbyForever]

Np! Thank you! Hoping after these big trials i’ll Get a break for a bit.

Is there maybe another solicitor nearby you can ask buaha. I’m all about using up free resources. Do you know if he got counsel? Do you guys have mediation over there? If you can come to agreements out of court it’ll save a lot of time and stress.

 

[Noodlebear]

To my knowledge he hasn't had any input from solicitors etc. We did initially look into mediation but I really couldn't afford it at the time, I have tried alternatives and sought support in rectifying the situation with him outside of court, even since his application to court I have tried, I even have proof of offering him contact multiple times within this time but he declined because he wants us to go to court.

 

[Emsabub]

You won't have to pay anything at all. Unless you had a solicitor or something.

I'm currently going through this and am representing myself, any court fees and all that is covered by him. If you have any other questions or anything feel free to message me