Questions to ask solicitor re divorce and maintenance payments

[sanityisamyth]

I have a meeting with a new solicitor on Monday. Separated from husband in January after months/years of him lying to me and unreasonable behaviour, finally ending up with him starting a relationship with some other woman.

He has taken loans/credit cards in my name and destroyed my credit rating.
He had an emotional relationship with a girl 13 years younger than him, who used to be a very good friend of mine. He sent/received from her nearly 500 messages in a fortnight asking her what to do about his marriage to me.
He practically abandoned me after I had our son.
He lied to me about his earnings and took lots of payday loans out to subsidise the pay cut he took.
He refuses to tell me where he takes our son overnight (solicitor today said I can withdraw access until he tells me).
He is only paying half the mortgage - it's jointly his house. He's also only paying childcare vouchers he took so I have not enough money to live on each month.

The final straw was this morning - he said I couldn't use a particular firm of solicitors as he was using them. It's a lie - he was trying to stop me using them.

So. I how can I get the best settlement possible, so I can get the best outcome for our son?

[morethanpotatoprints]

I'm sorry, but don't know.
Hopefully somebody will be along soon who has the answers.

[Cabrinha]

Why would he pay more than half the mortgage?
He sounds an arse though.

Best settlement - by getting a good solicitor. Don't pick the first one you meet. Talk to several, ask locally for recommendations.

With regards to him taking out loans in your name, have you spoken to a solicitor about involving the police over the fraud?

[Cabrinha]

I totally agree with that! Hence suggesting that she talks to her solicitor about it rather than going straight to the police!
But if the odds are that he's going to be hard to get maintenance out of, I'd look seriously at it.

[Newbrummie]

You must act quickly he's been planning this exit for a long time, things will not get better they will get worse and there will be nothing left