is it worth it?

Hi... Hopefully someone can help...
Just had the date through for Nisi... Only as the respondent, I''m being told that I will need to pay his costs.
I''m completely fuming about this, obviously, the statement of case was a pack of lies, he ran up huge gambling debts which means FMH will have to be sold (note to self NEVER ever have joint finances again). So not only did he screw me and our children whilst we were married, but he''s still doing it after we separated.
What I''d like to know (after my rant... Sorry!) is: Is it worth trekking to bury st Edmunds to dispute the costs award bearing in mind I''ve no car (can''t afford one), and will have to take an unpaid day at work plus pay for childcare?
Any costs would have to be paid out of my share of house equity, not that there''s much, which would mean less for children and I to rehouse ourselves.

Hi Peachyem,

I''m not a lawyer, but your post doesn''t make complete sense to me. There aren''t usually costs associated with the Decree Nisi, or being the Respondent. Was it him or his solicitors who said this to you? I get the impression that in most settlements, each party bears their own costs these days, it would be unusual for costs to be awarded against you unless there were conduct issues. You do mention a ''costs award'' which implies this has already happened? Perhaps a bit more detail would help the gurus on here give you some further advice.

Good luck.

Each party bears the costs in financial matters. The financial settlement is separate from the divorce.
As far as the divorce itself goes, those costs are either shared or paid by one party or the other. If it is an unreasonable behaviour or adultery Petition, costs are usually asked for by the Petitioner and awarded against the respondent. The costs are the court fee plus any reasonable legal costs for preparing and submitting the Petition. The time to challenge this is before or at the time of the Nisi hearing.

Hadenoughnow