To go to small claims court

[floweringstar]

Posting in here for traffic...but also interested in any thoughts and advice

I'm due money from my ex husband which he agreed to pay in separation agreement but hasn't.

Is it worth the stress to through a small claim case in Scotland to get money I am owed?
He is refusing any contact with me so not sure where else to go.

Any help very gratefully received

Hey OP, I'm in England so not directly comparable but:

Worked for a woman who paid for something (expensive) that the company never delivered.

She rightly threatened small claims and they dared her and she went through with it.

They defended with paperwork in the pre-court stage but then didn't show up on the day, and she got a judgement against them, with payment order.

She never got a penny in the end - they just ignored everything.

Court fees came to around £600 if I remember rightly - the item was £3K or so so it seemed worth it, and for her it was a matter of principle, but in the end she was worse off even though she'd "won"...

Also CAN he pay you? The court can't enforce anyone to pay money if they don't have it.

I'd want to hear a few good news stories on this thread before you sink money in taking him to court, honestly.

But there's a thing called Letter before action which the court needs to see as a starting point for any case, you could write a proper one and send it over and it might scare him into paying?

I think I would get advice from the CAB on what your most effective route is going to be

@WoolyMammoth55 thanks so much for that.

He could certainly afford to pay as works FT but he gets through life by having the attitude that rules don't apply to him.

I do feel it's the principle of the thing too yet
have a worry that I end up out of pocket and despite being told he has to pay he doesn't.

Do you have any sort of agreement in writing that he owes the money?

Small claims court is pretty straightforward if you have documents to back up your case. But if it is going to come down to your word against his then it is not a case for the SCC.

@Aaron95 yes, it was agreed in the separation agreement (which he signed) that an amount would be paid monthly as well as how much he was owe me.

Quick update for anyone who is watching.
I went through process and he is now subject to a wages arrestment. This includes interest and he is also due to pay all of the fees I paid to get to this stage so it's definitely been worthwhile

If the person who owes you money is in the sort of employment where reputation is crucial, it can be a serious disadvantage to have a judgement against one's name, one of our peripatetic music teachers found it concentrated the mind wonderfully when a parent could not be bothered to pay fees (as in do what I say, not what I do).
The parent concerned was the head teacher of a small local independent school......

That's a great update op. Really pleased for you. I read your original post but didn't know the answer so didn't post. Happy to see someone learn the rules also apply to them.

Glad you got a good result OP! Small claims can be great. Where it tends to fall down is small/dodgy businesses - for various reasons it can be difficult/impossible to enforce judgements against them. But where it's an individual and they're in PAYE employment and/or need access to financial products like mortgages, it can work well.