STBXH claiming unemployment prior to financial settlement!

[sunshiney78]

STBXH is self employed & earns circa 120-140k pa. We have one DD. We have exchanged Form E’s, petition has gone through and now awaiting his response to Form E Questionnaire (multiple discrepancies/incomplete disclosures).
Yesterday when he came to fetch DD, he says (with a smirk!) “btw, I’ll be out of a job from next month, so won’t have a source of income”.
Knowing him, he has definitely orchestrated this.
Am I just screwed now, re: 1.settlement and 2.child maintenance?

Happens all the time- phone the child maintenance service now and log it.

Also with these people who will never pay mainenance I would go for as much equity and assets as you can for a clean break 100% of house equitty and all his life savings and half his pension may well be a better source of cash even if much less than £30k a year maintenance for years if he would never pay the maintenance.

As Xenia -- less earnings to share might make the argument for more of the capital. Could also try for a nominal spousal maintenance in case his earnings magically increase that would make it easier to go back for more later. If he's not working perhaps any car he has could be sold or traded down?

My father did this to my mum prior to their divorce.

He was a taxi driver and self employed. He 'quit' work a month before claiming he could no longer afford the car insurance. It was total bullshit. He had paid for an entire year's insurance upfront in the May (this was the October) AND he forgot that he then lived in the same street as my friend who sent photos of his new Jaguar XJS.

It made no difference. Despite having a barrister and increasing debt for his services and her solicitor, my mum who only worked as a sales assistant and having to live with me and my family, my mum got 50% of the house, 50% of assets (his pension and caravan) but no maintenance - even though HE was the one who asked for the divorce after nearly 40 years of marriage. My mum was trying to claim a lump sum in exchange for maintenance as her lifestyle that she had become accustomed to had ceased. She was actually made homeless and lived with friends for a short while because the council wouldn't rehouse her UNTIL she had actually become homeless! It was a good job she had friends (and us) to rely on otherwise she would have been literally living from her car. At the time my dad also had numerous FB accounts - his most active he 'hid' from me that I found after having a 'hunch' and it was littered with photos of my estranged brother and his family that he had become acquainted with again 6 years after he (brother) decided to stick twos up at us!

Now 3 years later, I have nothing whatsoever to do with my dad and my mum moved 150 miles away to be nearer us and lives in her own home (we took out a 2nd mortgage so she wouldn't have to live in a bedsit - as that all what was on offer) nor would she have a £450 rent to come out of her £800 a month wages.

I can't forgive my dad for doing that. And he had the nerve to keep accusing her of affairs when actually it seemed it was HIM having the affair!

Watch he doesn't run up debts during the time it takes to get divorce through as these will come out of any equity in the house before allocating who gets what - depending on your circumstances you may not get spousal anyway - or not much - please make sure your lawyer gets this financial abuse.