Ex petitioned for divorce in Scotland but is prolonging the procedure ...

[fuzzywuzzy]

This is for a friend.

She was married and living in Sctoland, her ex was very abusive and she finally left him and moved back to England.

When she told her ex she would be filing for divorce, he filed for divorce first in Scotland.

Except now he's just prolonging it, he keeps firing his solicitors whenever things aren't going his way, friend is at the end of her tether, as her ex gets legal aid and she's having to travel up to Scotland whilst he fannys about on legal aid.

This is him continuing to be an abusive controlling arse!

They have two children and that's also going thro the Scottish courts, friend is at breaking point, she just wants to be free of him.

Is there anyone on here who can advise please?

Hmm, if he was in England and Wales she could make an application to have his proceedings struck out for want of prosecution, then issue a petition against him so she'd have control over the divorce, however I know nothing about Scots lawand don't know whether they have the same proceddure.
Does she have a Scots solicitor?

apols for typos, I have a plaster on my finger.

She has a solicitor here and in Scotland.

She's had a horrendous time of it, I think she's very near breaking down.

She really just wants to be free of him, but the rate he's dragging his feet she will be waiting a long time till he gives her a divorce.

He was very abusive during the marriage, and is continuing I suppose.

Thank you for replying Mumblechum.

Frankly her solicitor isn't doing their job if they're letting him mess around for this long. She needs to put some pressure on them, possibly asking for the file to be reviewed by someone senior. The procedure I described earlier isn't that well known and if her solicitor is quite junior may not be aware of it.

She describes her Scot solicitor as being 'flaky' I'm really worried to be honest.

Umm ... I'm not sure it's that straight forward in Scotland. There was a criminal case not that long ago and the defender managed to prolong court proceedings considerably by sacking solicitors shortly before every hearing. I'm rushing out just now but when I come back I'll give it some thought.

Her ex appears to be doing just that, he also redrafted his petition when he got a correspondance from my friends solicitor, which means she's now been waiting in limbo for two whole years!!! And is still nowhere near getting divorced.

I didn't think It would be so difficult to get a divorce, but it looks to me like her ex can continue sacking lawyers and redrafting his petition till he's done playing with my friends life, which given how vindictive he is could be forever!

Honestly thank you both for takign time over this. It's breaking my heart to watch my friend lose it now she's physically free from the man.

I am in a very similar situation to this but fortunately was given great advice from a Scottish solicitor and was advised to immediately go to wales apply for emergency residency and petition divorce, by doing this my ex has to fight me here and not the other way around, he is obviously not very happy about this. I am 1 year down the line and am just about to put my form e to the courts for financial closure as my ex has messed about continuously and now made himself unemployed. It's about control in my case and it's the only control he has over me any more, the difference is that I am 12 months down the line and the timescale has given me time to look into my entitlements and be a lot more rational, he will probably be a lot worse off than if he'd not messed about for so long. Tell your friend to stay strong, be there for her and most of all to ensure that he thinks that she is strong and happy and comes across this way, it's amazing what power this gives you and shell eventually start feeling this way too. On a practical note if you search my previous threads you'll find the name of a good solicitor in fife. Our life is a 100 times better than it has been for years and as tough as it is a times there is light at the end of the tunnel. ( sorry for typos and lack of punctuation, camping in field and using phone!)