Key Takeaways
- Under no-fault divorce there is no rule that a cheating partner pays the fees. Infidelity has no formal role in a divorce at all.
- The £628 court fee is paid by whoever applies, or split if you apply jointly. It is the same whoever ended the marriage and why.
- You normally each pay your own legal costs. Costs orders against one party are rare in modern divorce.
- Adultery almost never changes the financial settlement either. Conduct only counts in rare, extreme cases.
It can feel deeply unfair. Your partner had an affair, your marriage is over because of it, and now you are the one filling in the forms and paying the court fee. Surely the person who cheated should be footing the bill? It is one of the most common questions we hear from people whose marriage has ended this way, and the honest answer tends to surprise them.
Since divorce law changed in 2022, cheating simply does not carry the weight most people expect. It will not earn you a discount, and it will not land your ex with the costs. That is hard to hear when you feel wronged, but knowing it early saves a lot of wasted energy.
Here is exactly how divorce fees work when one partner has been unfaithful, who pays what, and the rare situations where behaviour does make a difference. If you want advice on your own case, Osbourne Pinner offers a free 30-minute consultation with a family law solicitor.
The short answer
No. There is no rule in England and Wales that a cheating partner has to pay the divorce fees. Whoever applies pays the court fee, regardless of who did what to whom. If that strikes you as unjust, you are far from the first person to think so, but it is how the current system works.
Why cheating no longer counts
Since no-fault divorce arrived in April 2022, you no longer give any reason for the divorce. You simply confirm the marriage has broken down irretrievably. There is no box to tick for adultery, no blame to hand out, and so nothing for a fees decision to hang on. The law took blame out of the process on purpose, to cut down on the conflict that used to make divorces so bitter.
So who pays the court fee?
The court fee to apply for a divorce is £628. Whoever submits the application pays it. If you apply jointly, which is common when things are still reasonably civil, you can split it between you. There is no higher or lower fee depending on why the marriage ended, and no version of the form where your ex gets charged for straying. If money is tight, help with court fees is available for people on a low income or certain benefits.
What about the legal fees?
Beyond the court fee, most people use a solicitor, and as a general rule each person pays their own legal costs. It makes no difference that one of you had an affair. The days of routinely asking a court to order the “guilty” spouse to pay the other’s bill largely went when the fault-based system did. You can see how the wider costs stack up in our guide to how much a divorce costs.
Will the divorce even mention the affair?
Here is something that catches people out, in a better way this time. The divorce itself will not record that your partner cheated. Because you no longer give a reason for the split, there is nothing on the application that names the affair or the person involved. For some, that removes a small measure of justice they had been hoping for. For most, it comes as a relief, because it keeps a painful private matter off the paperwork and out of any dealings that follow.
Sorting the fee out without a fight
If the idea of paying for a divorce you did not want grates, there are calmer ways to handle it than asking a court to punish your ex. A joint application lets you split the £628 fee straight down the middle. You can also fold the question of who pays what into your overall financial settlement, where it becomes one small line in a much bigger picture rather than a battle in its own right. And if affording the fee is a genuine worry, check whether you qualify for help with fees before you apply, rather than after.
Can you ever make your ex pay?
Occasionally, yes, but not simply because they cheated. You and your ex are free to agree between yourselves that one of you covers the court fee or that you share it, and plenty of couples settle it exactly that way as part of tidying everything up. The court can also make a costs order in limited situations, usually where someone has behaved unreasonably in the case itself, for example by dragging things out for no good reason. Even then, it is about conduct in the litigation, not conduct in the marriage.
Does cheating affect the financial settlement?
This is the follow-up everyone asks, and the answer runs along the same lines. Adultery on its own will not win you a bigger share of the assets. A court can take conduct into account, but only where it would be genuinely unfair to ignore it, and that bar is set very high. In practice it is reserved for extreme behaviour, usually serious financial misconduct, rather than an affair. We go into this properly in our guide on whether infidelity affects a divorce settlement.
The real financial cost of a bitter divorce
There is one way cheating can end up costing more, and it is indirect. Affairs breed resentment, and resentment makes people dig in. The more you fight, the more solicitor time you both burn through, and the more the whole thing costs. There is a hard irony in it: the couples who manage to keep the emotion out of the paperwork, however difficult that is, are usually the ones who pay the least.
So while it is natural to want the person who broke the marriage to pay for ending it, the law does not see it that way. The most cost-effective approach, painful as it can be, is to treat the divorce itself as admin to get through, and save your energy for the things that genuinely are worth it, like a fair financial settlement and sensible arrangements for your children.
Speak to a Divorce Solicitor About Your Options
When a marriage ends because of an affair, the sense of unfairness is real, even if the law does not share it. Good advice helps you focus on what you can actually influence, like the financial settlement and arrangements for any children.
At Osbourne Pinner, our divorce solicitors can explain where you stand on costs, guide you through the process, and help make sure your settlement is a fair one.
Please note that this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. We always recommend speaking to a qualified solicitor for advice tailored to your specific circumstances.
We offer a free 30-minute consultation to discuss your situation. You can speak with us via video call or visit our offices in Harrow, Canary Wharf, Piccadilly Circus or Manchester. To arrange your consultation, call 0203 983 5080, email [email protected] or complete the form below.
