Silly Question about SOLS

[scotgal2017]

Having never used SOLS except for a house sale ages ago this question may be simple and silly but an answer would be greatly appreciated!

STBXH and I will be divorcing. He has lots of money, I have not. In fact I have none. I have had a free half hour with a local sol in which I barely scratched what i wanted to find out. I phoned sol to find out fee for an hour and it is £190! I desperately want to get things moving.. and now STBXH is chasing a response to a proposal he made last week...I want it to be done officially not just respond myself but I don;t have the money for even an hour with SOL...i am waiting for some checks to be done before starting work, this could be weeks yet so no income of my own for a while. I can't claim benefits either as haven't been back for 3 months from abroad where I was living.

My silly question is, do SOLs fees have to be paid there and then or can I go for an hour and have a bill which I can pay at a later stage?

Anyone?

I signed a letter of engagement at the 2nd meeting and was invoiced at the end. But this is in NZ... might be different.

Just ask them!

Speak to the solicitors themselves. They may be able to set up a monthly plan or depending on what you are likely to receive by way of settlement let you pay at various stages through the case.

Do be aware though that many may ask for some money up front.

It might be worth telling STBXH that you need some money to get legal advice if he NEEDS such a quick reply to his proposal which presumably he wants because he is trying to diddle you!

I will ask them I just wondered what the general lay of the land was in terms of payment.

I don't even want to go into it now i just look bitter, but basically yes, he wants to diddle me and the law wants too as well....

What do you mean he has money and you do not. whatever money he has is half yours! everything owned by him is half yours too. Don't sign anything until you see a solicitor

To OP

Maybe your STBXH can pay your legal costs. A LSO (Legal Services Order) I think it is called. Might sound odd that one partner pays the other's legal costs, but logic is that if both have good representation the proceedings will be more efficient and cost less in total. Any financial assistance provided by STBXH will be taken into account when settlement is determined.

Whatever happens please don't make it a contest otherwise it will drag on and on and legal costs will escalate.

In what capacity were you overseas? You may still have counted as a uk citizen while you were there depending on why and where you were.

I got legal aid for my divorce and am appalled the rules have since changed.

But as pp say

A - his money is also your money

B - an LSO or other arrangement may be possible

I agree with NOT signing anything until you've had advice, you could be signing agreeing to goodness only knows what!

We moved to foreign country because we could and thought it would be a better lifestyle for DCs.

basically background is:

Together for 20 years, married 17 when he left last year. Married in UK and we could file for divorce if both agree after 1 year. All (me and DCs and him on his own)have moved back to UK in the last few months. He was abusive the entire relationship, physically, emotionally, verbally.

We have 2 joint accounts in the foreign country, both in our names. When he left last year he wanted the agreement that he would pay me a set amount each month for kids/rent/some bills into the second joint account and he would use the other one. This was arranged and I have not touched any of "his" money in the account he uses in the whole time we have been separated. This man earns 6 figures.....i still check "his" account and have been printing off statements to gather for the divorce to show his income.

I hoped that after the length of the marriage and agreeing to the set amount each month that i would be able to at least claim some sort of comfortable financial settlement so that it was done and dusted but I had something to show for input into the marriage. His job for many years has involved him working away for 3-6 weeks at a time and back for around the same length of time. Even then, I did 98% of everything (with a lot of criticism) and he sat around doing nothing. If it wasn't for my input into the family he wouldn't have been able to reach that high earner status.

I am nearly 40 years old and I want to set up my own business so that I have a steady income doing a job I love and hopefully have something to leave my kids in the future. We have absolutely no assets except the 2 joint accounts. No house, no business, no assets, nothing. zip. nada.

I went to a solicitor for a free half hour and basically all I'm entitled to is what was in the joint accounts when he said he wanted to separate....so 5,000 Euros. i know money isn't everything but this feels just like another big F* You from him to me, after all he put me and the kids through over the years.

It has been wonderful the last year, me and the kids have grown closer, I'm less agitated with them, we aren't all walking on eggshells. I have seen my DCs genuinely smile and laugh for the first time ever, it's wonderful. But I just can't help feeling sorry for myself that 20 years of my life has gone and i have absolutely nothing to show for it except my 2 lovely DCs.

Ironically, I would have been legally allowed to take money from "his" account if i liked for the whole year after he left....so i could have taken that legally and be in a better position financially than i am now.....but the law says now all i'm entitled to because I haven't taken any of that money is what was in it the day he said he wanted to separate??

Here was me trying to do things what i thought was the right way and not antagonise the situation and claim some of what was going through that joint account at the divorce stage.

I really hope someone knowledgeable responds that he won't be able to get away with this.

I think you need quite specialist advice which unfortunately I can't give you.

You might be better off posting in legal.

Re living overseas - I meant did you relinquish British citizenship at any point? Because the finer details can affect the benefits side of things - as in you may not need to wait 3 months to claim but your average dwp call handler won't necessarily know this.

Eg I lived overseas as an army wife, was initially told this prevented us from claiming when we first returned, then found out that wasn't true.

But I also have civilian friends who've lived overseas but remained U.K. Citizens and kept paying NI stamp etc and so were able to claim upon return - it's complicated.

Thanks for the replies. Yes @Kaznet, it has left a bitter taste in my mouth. In "his" account currently is nearly 20,000 Euros....in mine is .....£80. But apparently even though the money he earns is going into that joint account every couple of months keeping it in 5 figures, I'm not entitled to any of that at the point of filing for divorce even though we are still married until that final paper is signed?? It makes no sense. I feel like flying back and taking some out as it seems there's not a lot he could say about that instead of trying to get it sorted out through a sol, as it appears that the law is not on my side. i've read on MN spousal maintenance etc is very rare so it's quite depressing to think if i took him to court to try and get a larger settlement i could end up with nothing.

@Graphista, thanks for taking the response. We were residents there as me and DCs were there over the 186 day rule. They were in local schools, STBXH was paying tax in country we were staying etc. I went to CAB last week and she said I would have to wait the 3 months for benefits. I have had a job offer but i'm waiting on security checks so can't see about benefits until have contract/start date etc anyway it seems.

I think you should repost this with a different title.... Like husband taking all the money in divorce"
You might get more response

@Kaznet thanks, might just do that, it's really frustrating and stressing me out. Yet another message from him yesterday asking for a response to his proposal (which was an email a few weeks ago outlining child maintenance which is great, holidays and when he wanted kids etc.....but funnily enough nothing offered as "compensation" for me putting up with his abusive twattishness for years and years

Are you divorcing in Scotland? Guessing from your username.

There will be no financial recompense to you for his behaviour, that doesn't factor. It'll be a straight 50/50 split of your assets, valued at date of separation.

Maximum financial support (alimony) will be for 3 years after divorce. After that child support only.

You need to get working fast!

@birdbandit yes it will be a Scottish divorce. Sol did not say anything about alimony for up to 3 years after divorce, she only said 50% of what was joint (so as no assets etc, only the 4,000 Euros in the joint account), as 30 minutes went reaalllyy quick!

I'm trying to work fast but I don't have £190 to pay sol upfront which is why i posed the original question, I'm so frustrated

I have a monthly payment plan with my solicitor, and I pay extra on top where I can, and have an agreement that any shortfall can be recovered from any settlement I receive.

Scotgal, im in Scotland too, whereabouts are you?

Will be speaking to sols this week to see what I can arrange. Don't want to give my location out, you ever know who could be lurking!!