My wife made the unilateral decision for us to divorce some time ago, but as the last six months of my life have been so indescribably unpleasant I now can't wait to distance myself from her.

She has agreed to attend mediation but only as long as I pay for every session in full. She has reasonable savings, equivalent in value to my own, so I do find this unreasonable - she should contribute something. However, she has also so far refused to petition! We have effectively been going no-where apart from many arguments around the finances. Interestingly enough she has also said that I have deliberately been against her by not taking time off work to look after our daughter whilst she visits her solicitor. I wonder if I should just put a collar around my neck and give her the lead? I digress, sorry...

I have been advised to petition against her as divorce is now considered on a no fault basis and this should not affect the settlement. However, I have also read that it is far harder to sort finances out post divorce. In other words, we could be divorced quickly before finances have been agreed. Should I try and get some resolution around the finances first, or should I just issue the petition?

You can't get court help to sort out finances until one of you petitions for divorce.

If your stbx won't discuss finances in any reasonable way, you are better to at least begin the legal process. You can negotiate a settlement between yourselves at any time during this process but the court process at least gives you a ti­meta­ble you are both obliged to follow.

Good luck.