Am I entitled to DH's shares?

[Acegikm]

Trying to reach a financial settlement with DH. He is being cagey about his financial affairs. He is part owner of a business which I think is a private limited company. Am I entitled to have these shares taken into consideration when deciding my settlement?

Can I insist that he shares details of the company's finances with me?

Yes and yes. File for exchange of form e as soon as possible

Thank you. Can I do this without a solicitor? (I know I will have to get one at some point).

You can represent yourself yes. Take a good look at the wikidivorce website there is lots of good information on there.

Many thanks.

Definitely, yes and it is worth getting a solicitor who can advise you what to ask. It took several years for me to get my ex's company shares valued but it was worth it.

Have you tried looking up his company on Companies House?

I don't think private ltd companies have to - don't know the proper term - publish their accounts.

As far as I'm aware, all limited companies have to register with CH and are then subject to certain regulatory requirements - it might be micro accounts if it's a very small company. If there's an annual return on there it should tell you details of shareholders. (It's a long time since I've done thing kind of thing so I'm a bit hazy!)

There's a limited amount of financial information about all limited companies on Companies House website. You can search by company name or director name of he's a director.

When you go to court, he will have to give a value of his shares on his form E and provide 2 years of accounts. If the valuation looks dodgy or too low, you can ask the court to appoint a single joint expert to value the company.

He will declare it's value and it will end up being taken into account. It's not simple, though, and it may not be worth as much as either of you hope it will be.

OP here.

Thanks for your replies. I've found him and his company and it's confirmed what a devious bastard he is.

Glad you looked it up OP, get to a decent solicitor and claim your fair share.

Snap shot everything before changes are made

Just as a word of caution, if it's a company where he works and gets paid a salary then the courts will treat it differently to an investment. So you aren't necessarily going to get 50% of the value of the company. But it will be taken into account.