Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Legal matters

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you have any legal concerns we suggest you consult a solicitor.

EXH repeatedly referring to the sale of OUR house - Can anyone briefly look at my finances please?

9 replies

petersham · 02/11/2011 21:39

Hi

I have not posted for a few weeks or so but I saw another thread and I would appreciate some advice hopefully to put my mind at rest.

I solely owned/ financed (mainly with parental help) / paid all bills for our home throughout the course of our on-off marriage over a period of over 10 years. Moved three times though during the marriage. Pre-DC he only lived with me for short bursts of time and was mainly finding it too much and buggering off back to his mother's home abroad where he worked or claimed benefits for long periods of time. When I was about to have DC1 he came back to live and make a go of it.

For property bought prior to current one, I had a type of post-nup drawn up in which he was advised independently and signed away rights to sale proceeds. I hated that house from the word go so I had bought, sold & moved into current home all within one year. This time round, I asked the solicitor for a deed thingy but I think he said that the courts would decide even though I explained that the marriage was always rocky etc.

Eight years later, he physically abused SN DS (age 6) while we lived abroad for around a month - was pretty bad and escalating dangerously - we escaped behind his back as we were treated like prisoners there by DH and his family (later documented by SS who advised he would not get direct contact). Solicitor said that due to the no-order rule I could not get RO/PSO

DH moved stuff out of our home back in the UK saying that he had no intention of returning or being a family so I changed the locks. He initiated talk of divorce (I have filed for it in the UK) , he has been awarded a spacious council flat in his native country (pre-marriage had lived in a similar but smaller in same town). He wont give anybody the address for this as he is pretending to be homeless/ living at his brothers- presumably to bolster his case.

DCs and I returned home to UK after the month of hell in his country but now he is insinuating that he will stake a claim on my house even though he always told me he would never do that/ it was my headache etc. He was never employed in UK, contributed nothing to family life ever other than leaving us deeply traumatised by his callousness.

My solicitor says that it will end up in court for sure but I may have to pay him to get rid. I feel that this is deeply unfair. He is financially reckless. Any money he ever laid his hands on was spent on overgrown teen / playboy lifestyle well beyond his means. Has never saved up for anything serious. Complete cad.

Due to DS SN I cannot envisage ever returning to my pre-DCs high-powered career - my care of him around school hours is not substitutable and it may well continue into adulthood. I was hoping that at some point, we would have downsized to finance quality SN education but instead it looks as though I'll have to see my hard earned money frittered away by an insensitive and unrealistic vile man. How can I stop this from happening? If I cant, how much would I likely end up paying out and out of what source of income given that there is next to none?

OP posts:
RandomMess · 02/11/2011 21:43

Hmmm you need a good family solicitor, preferable one recommended to you.

I wonder if you can negotiate keeping all the house as he isn't going to be coughing up maintenance...

Collaborate · 02/11/2011 22:00

OP if you have a solicitor, aren't they answering this question for you?

sneezecakesmum · 02/11/2011 22:03

Can you raise any funds at all? Possibly offer him an amount to legally relinquish any claim to the house. Don't do ANYTHING though until you have firm legal advice as an offer may jeopardise your case. If he has a legal claim on your house and he is as feckless with money as you say he may be greedy enough to accept any amount you offer rather than go to the expense of taking you to court for the house and having to pay legal fees.

petersham · 02/11/2011 22:04

thanks -
my solicitor says that it is not possible to say , the Courts will decide, but she does not appear to share my sense of injustice (well you were married for a long time/ he does need to live somewhere etc).

OP posts:
petersham · 02/11/2011 22:07

sneeze - well I guess my parents, but that would really be a last resort as they were very helpful and generous towards him and it is astounding that he would indirectly steal their money in such a way.
Btw wikivorce calculated it as being a 30/70 split of proceeds.

OP posts:
petersham · 02/11/2011 22:17

My main grievance is that he has returned to his pre-marriage style/standard of living, DCs wont go there so what would he need the money for? He is a little bit older than me and annoyingly used to give the impression in the neighbourhood that he was a sugar daddy and somehow I was the silly, young spouse. I always thought this was bizarre but I am not talkative and let it go generally (he is due a hip operation, may never work after that so we are unlikely to be paid maintenance ever). Among his family, he would also try and reinforce this image - it is almost as though he feels obliged to carry on doing this which is why he is even daring to go there. I do not know of a single spouse among my friends/family who would have the audacity to behave in such a way. If anything, they would already have been contributing and would carry on doing so even if they were no longer living in the property. But I guess I really didn't choose well..

OP posts:
Collaborate · 02/11/2011 22:52

Recent case law developments have made post-nups much more likely to be followed than before.

Get a solicitor who is a member of wither the Advanced Family Law Panel (not the bog standard one) or a Resolution accredited specialist. If you have no confidence in the solicitor you have at present then change. As an alternative seek an early opinion from a barrister.

babybarrister · 05/11/2011 09:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

petersham · 26/11/2011 22:51

thanks - I never saw your reply until today. I am in London

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page