petition

help! received a divorce petition from my husband this week.....i was dithering over whether to issue one on him and he beat me to it! His petition consists of many lies, which is just what i expected...do i have to sign this petition or can i still go to my solicitors and get them to issue one on him...i don't particularily care who divorces who, but i am not prepared to sign this petition when most of the reasons that he cites for a divorce are totally untrue. It also looks as though he is asking for a lump sum, and spousal maintenance from me...not quite sure which planet him and his solicitor are living on!! Any help much appreciated!! Louise, where are you?

Hi Sallyanne,

Sorry ive been in London for weekend, my daughter had exam down there.

As for your petition you dont have to sign anything and can petition him instead citing the real reasons. The trouble with all this is the cost! If you could get together with your ex or at least talk to him and tell him you are not prepared to sign that petition and if he wants to make up lies then its going to cost so much money between yourselves arguing over the points! At the end of the day if you both want a divorce then it really doesnt matter what is said in the petition, what i mean by that is........there is no need for lies. As for SM and a lump sum it seems when they file for divorce they fill out everything they may think they may get. Or in other words they apply for everything, leaving nothing out, cus hey you never know they might just get it! (their way of thinking i might add) The financial side of things is like a game of poker. They start at the top and work their way down till something becomes acceptable to both. If you settle with what they asked for in the first place then o what a bonus for their client!
Try not to worry about what they are asking for, its a long way down this path anyway!

Cya in chat! lol
Louise

Hey SallyAnn

Once divorce is petitioned thats it!! Regardless of who did it to who. He can still withdraw it at any time up to absolute but unless he does then you cant petition him.

I wouldn't worry too much about the lies in the petition although they do stick in the throat somewhat, especially as he got in first.

I beleive my ex had to come up with 5? items listed of unreasonable behaviour and she flourished with at least 10 over several pages.

My response to the petition stated that I did not agree with the content listed in the grounds, however I would not contest it. I also agreed to pay the cost of the petition £216? but did also state that I could have filed myself had I known was responsbile to pay the cost of it.

Basicaly you just have to lump it, cos the cost of contesting it would be massive.

Hope this helps

Hi Sallyanne,

Seems you are confronted with conflicting advice.
My only take on all this is..........................

Personally i would try anything, we have been told so many times throughout all this that you cant do this or that! When in actual fact when we did do it, it usually worked out in our favour.
It seems to me that solicitors will try anything, they push the boundaries all the time, if they get what they are asking for then so be it, but if they dont who is it who bears the cost?? Not them, YOU do!
This is all very well for me to say because it doesnt cost us anything to try and do what we "should'nt", we represent ourselves, but my advice to anyone who has a solicitor is ask how much it will cost you to fight for whatever you are fighting for!
I personally doubt very much that anyone would be interested in whos petitioning who, i doubt anyone at the court is on the ball enough to realise that one petioned one the week before and even if they did, well i dont know do i? because im representing myself!
It has been stated on here somewhere that a court has a duty to stop things from esculating..I.E, if the cost of trying to get something outways the cost of actually getting it. Such as....its no use fighting for 10k if the cost is going to be 30K getting it! But who cares???? No one and no one actually looks at anything till a FH anyway!
It would be fantastic if it happened that way and it should happen that way, but it does'nt in reality.
Me??? i would try anything these days and i certainly would NOT sign anything that was not true.
Like dockley says....you can say as he said...he did not agree to anything in the petition but he would not contest it, but one thing for sure is i would not of paid for it, like he said "he might as well have filed for petition himself if he had known he was going to pay for it.
Hope your ok Sallyanne
cya soon in chat hopefully.
Kind ones
Louise