Hello, posting again for a friend who is being taken to court by her ex husband who pays no maintenance but is seeking contact with their daughter.
Because of his violence, and given that there is a restraining order in place, my friend and her solicitor are trying to get the difficult "no contact" order.
The first court hearing was this week, it went OK and it was adjourned pending further reports, but my friend has now just received a very long and scary letter asking lots of details about transactions on her bank account.
They are asking what every credit is for and what every cash withdrawal is for.
They then conclude "our calculations show that your monthly outgoings are more than your monthly income. Please tell us how you meet your day-to-day living costs for yourself and for your children. If you are receiving financial support from somebody, please tell us who is supporting you, what they pay for, how much, how often, to whom and how the payments are made"
Is this a normal letter? The reality of the situation is that her family help her quite a lot, and she borrows and then repays money from friends at various times in the month. And she does tend to draw her weekly money out in cash and make it last the week. And frankly she can't remember what every cash withdrawal is for!
Presumably Legal Aid have to make certain checks to make sure claims are not fraudulent, but this was a particularly nasty letter to receive.
My friend is very upset because she feels that she is being made to feel as if she has done something wrong, when she she is really is the victim in this.
Can anyone provide reassurance?
Thanks in advance.