Money spent in months before Form E exchanged

[bluebellforests]

We exchanged Form E’s in February last year through mediation. He then wanted a pension report done and mediation didn’t go any further. We should never have done mediation as abuse involved.

In December we exchanged new Form E’s through solicitors. Not amicable at all.
On his new Form E he has 20K less in his one account and 10K less in his other account. Huge discrepancies. He spent most of it on daily meals in restaurants, holidays, occasional hotels, legal costs etc.
Still, I can’t see how he could’ve spent 30K in 10 months.

Question. Does it matter that he has so much less now or that it effectively not matter because the money has been spent and whatever is left is whatever is left in our pot.
I on the other hand have been living so sparingly, I’m struggling, he doesn’t pay any child maintenance and I switch off the heating entirely on the weekends when the children are not with me.

Also, his legal costs are a lot more than mine. He appointed a barrister child arrangements whilst I’m representing myself (going well).
How can I ensure that his legal costs from the past year is not taken out of the pot as well?

Or does it not matter if he gambled the money away or spent it on barristers, whatever is left is left?

Following with interest
(sorry it s so hard)

Hi, unfortunately, the courts will lead from the newest Form E. So money spent prior to that, and since the original Form E, will be overlooked. Although, during your questionnaire period, you will have the opportunity to query any large sums which have disappeared since the original and, depending on your judge, could be taken into account. So not all is lost..hope this helps

As for the court costs, there is a section on the form for the Consent Order which asks for exact figures for all legal fees. These will be taken into account.

When did you actually split up? If your exs money doesn't relate to when you split, im not sure it would be that much to do with you anymore. If it does relate to money when you were together then you are probably best cracking on with forcing it to court and getting a judge to decide on asset split if a sensible agreement cant be reached amicably

My ex did similar and there was nothing I could do. It sucks. But eventually I got the divorce I so desperately wanted and that was worth more than the £30k he disappeared.