Needing your spouse or partner to pay the fees

If your spouse/partner is the person with control of the family finances it is understandable why you would expect them to pay the legal costs. All the more so if they are the party who is pushing to move legal matters forward.

The rules around who should pay for the legal fees are complex but the general principle is that each party is responsible for their own lawyer’s fees and any connected costs. It is not the other party’s responsibility to pay those costs. It may be possible in some circumstances to obtain court orders within proceedings that the other person should pay your costs but this is often limited to a discreet issue.

If you cannot afford to pay your legal fees out of your own income or resources then it may be possible to seek a court order that the other party should pay your costs but there are some other options you must first explore before you can do so. A court will only make an order that one party should make a payment to the other to help them pay their legal fees if that person has no other way of raising funds. You would therefore need to first attempt to obtain a litigation loan if you have no other means of paying your fees. We have good working relationships with a number of litigation lending organisations who can advise you on your options and provide you with a lending facility to meet your legal costs. If you are not eligible for litigation funding then you may be able to seek a contribution from the other party, provided they have the financial resources to afford to do so.

We can explain all the options that are available to you.