My ex and I divorced 8 years ago. He left me to pay all joint debts, raise our son with special needs (he received enhanced rate of PIP for both mobility and personal care) and remarried a couple of months later. There was no money for a financial settlement and as he had ticked on the divorce papers no to the financial prayer, I did not seek a settlement. Ex has not seen our son since we divorced (he new wife found our son's special needs difficult and so my ex cut all contact). I went through CSA and CMS for maintenance and only received money when an attachment of earnings was in place. As Ex frequently job hopped and then decided to go self employed, he paid very little. I work full time and bring up our son on my own. I owned a property when I met my ex husband and the equity from the sale of my property paid for the deposit and legal bills when we bought our family home. Last year I received a letter threatening court action via civil court as Ex wants half equity in house. I was devastated. After many costly letters exchanged between solicitors I have had to take him to family court for a financial settlement, we have now exchanged form Es and the FDA is next week. I was completely honest in my form e and supplied endless documents as evidence. My ex's form E was full of blanks, no evidence of income or outgoings, no financial information regarding his wife etc. We have exchanged questionnaires, my solicitor has been great and we have listed around 60 questions. His solicitor has asked just 11 questions.
I have a barrister who will be with me at the FDA, I have not met them yet but he comes highly recommended. I am very nervous, my ex has been dismissive of our son's disabilities referring to them as 'just confidence issues'. I have submitted his EHCP as evidence of his disabilities. I get very upset when my ex is so dismissive of our son and his refusal to support him financially and be part of his life. I am dreading the FDA for this reason.