Ex trying to make me bankrupt

[sophmum31]

My ex husband left 4 years ago. The divorce was very long and painful, he moved out and I stayed in the house with the children. The divorce is finalised but we have been trying to sell the house for 18 months, getting close to exchange now but sadly there are problems in the bottom of the chain so more delays. The house is solely in my exs name but I was awarded 70% of the equity in the divorce (he had all the savings etc). He's been emotionally abusive throughout and I had a non molestation order which sadly ended a year ago.

Today when I collected my son he served me with papers. Basically a demand for £6000 as a stuatory demand, in this paperwork it says I have to pay within 21 days or apply to the court for it to be set aside within 18 days. He claims I owe the money due to damages to things in the house in the 4 years since he left, many of the things were in the condition before he left or are genuinely wear and tear (scuffs on walls which haven't been painted for 7 years, a plug socket hanging off the wall which has been like that for years, a crack in the fridge which is at least 10 years old). He also says I have lost items of his, I have repeatedly asked him to come and sort his stuff out with the move being imminent, he's asking me to compensate him for an item that was mine and a birthday gift to me. And for a tree in the garden which died over the hot summer a couple of years ago.

It is obviously nothing more than an extension of the financial and emotional abuse he has subjected me to throughout our marriage and since. But I have no idea how to deal with this!

Oh and if I don't apply to court or pay him within the 21 days he can apply for me to be made bankrupt meaning the children and I will be homeless once the house sells as I wouldn't be able to get a mortgage

Hi. I think it is a scare tactic on his behalf as being declared bankrupt by a court is not something that happens 'willy nilly'. I have some debt advice experience, although it was from 8 years ago! If you Google 'statutory demand' it will give you the option of the govt website/court/ debts etc, Select this , and it has easy to understand help on what you need to do. Please don't ignore it.
You can ring these too:
Insolvency Enquiry Line
[email protected]
Telephone: 0300 678 0015
Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm
Friday, 9am to 3pm.

They will help, or contact your local Citizens Advice, or a solicitor.
Ps. This is for England

What a disgrace he is.

Can you ask your lawyer for advice? Or contact CAB?

Does he have proof that you 'broke' any of these things? What a tool.

Is this a homemade letter from him or something from an actual court on their letterhead? If the latter, first of all contact the court (look up the number yourself, don't use the one on the letter) to make sure it's real and then if it is get yourself to an actual lawyer or to Citizens Advice. The bit about getting it set aside suggests he has, or wants you to think he has, got a judgement against you - but he shouldn't have been able to do that without you being aware you were being taken to court.

Even if the costs were true (which sound very shaky tbh) he has no grounds surely to try and declare you bankrupt because the money is tied up in the house sale.

Can you speak to the solicitor who handled your divorce for advice?

It’s a scare tactic.

Statutory demands are just an attempt to create evidence of a straightforward undisputed debt.

Ie, if you didn’t answer it within 21 days, your ex could say to the court that there was no dispute and so he can proceed to enforcement / bankruptcy.

They are completely inappropriate for disputed claims for damages.

All you need to do is write back setting out that this is not an appropriate use of statutory demand process as:

1. he is trying to use it to claim unquantified damages (ie not a fixed debt); and
2. in any event, the claim is disputed. I would then set out why you deny your ex’s claims - eg there is no factual basis for his claims (ie no damage) and/or there is no underlying legal basis / obligation for you to be held responsible for that damage etc.

I agree it’s ludicrous but you need to act.
Try advice agencies and also check if you have legal cover through your home insurance or trade Union.
Try not to panic - he’s abusive and hopefully you’ll be free of him soon.

A stat demand can only properly be made in relation to an undisputed debt. Clearly you dispute this debt and so his use of a stat demand is an abuse of process. You should write to him pointing that out, and inviting him to withdraw the demand immediately (he should do so in writing). If he doesn't, you should apply to court to have the demand set aside. You do this on Form IAA, which you can access here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-to-the-court-about-an-insolvency-issue-form-iaa.

You MUST make this application within 18 days of receiving the demand.

Tell your husband that if an application to court is necessary, you will seek your costs of the application from him. Only really relevant if you instruct a solicitor, but you may want to do so to ensure everything is done correctly.

Thank you so much for all of the replies. It's not an official court document but a form he has downloaded from the internet. I have also read up and realised this in not the use for this kind of document as rightly so it is a disputed debt! Honestly I wish I could post and show how crazy some of the demands are!