If he's not prepared to pay what the lawyer wants up front then he's going to have to accept what happens on Tuesday and get on with his life because he's certainly not going to want to pay what the a lawyer wants up front to try and set aside the decree and get into the property settlement from scratch.
He'd probably have to spend $10,000 to $20,000 to litigate the issue just to go after his $30,000 share of the equity.