Returning to court

[Cazza7e]

Sorry this is probably going to be a very long winded post, so apologise in advance. I really need some advice, I'm panicking!
Ex-H and I reached a financial settlement in court in Feb this year where it was agreed that he'd pay me £1,800 per month in spousal maintenance and that he'd pay £800 in child maintenance as long as I didn't go to CMS to seek more, the absolute was granted the following week. It wasn't written into the consent order at any point that the £1,800 would include child maintenance. A few days later in Feb when spousal and child maintenance was due, he said that he no longer has to pay child maintenance as the order said I had no further claims on him. I phoned CMS the same day and opened a case. Last month CMS ordered that he pay £900 per month (which is now appealing). This month he only paid half the spousal maintenance, and I made an application for breach of consent order to the courts last week and haven't heard anything back from them. Today I received a court document (Form A) where he is taking me back to court to start all over again to vary the spousal maintenance down to £800 per month claiming that he's personal debts have risen to £150K (£60K more than 2 months ago). Throughout proceedings he has blurred the lines between his company liabilities (corporation tax) and personal debt putting them all into one basket. He is also now claiming that due to him not being represented at the court hearing in Feb that he didn't understand what was happening even though my barrister explained to him at length what everything meant and the judge who signed the consent order checked with him at every point that he knew what he was signing and understood everything. I spent £25K in legal fees during this time and still owe my solicitor a large amount which I haven't been able to pay due to him not paying, I cannot even pay the mortgage this month as the spousal maintenance was to cover the mortgage and basic living costs. I literally cannot afford a solicitor as my outgoings are currently more than my income. Does anybody know where I stand in all this and what I can do? The court hearing has been scheduled for 3 August.

I don't have any advice Op but just wanted to say these men are C&&Ts - I know from experience - company here too- currently facing court tribunal as x doesn't agree with CMS figures -

Bloody hell OP. He sounds like a right twat and so stressful for.

Nothing to add to help but bumping for you.

So he is trying to change a consent order only 2 months after it was granted. He thinks he can refuse to pay the child maintenance ordered because the order says you have no further claims on him,, so he is in breach of the order on that front. He is also in breach of the order regarding spousal maintenance. I don't give much for his chances.

Does your order have a section for your periodical payments and a section for CM payments? Are they listed separate with their individual amounts?

Just file the form D50K with a copy of your order to the court who handled the divorce and finances. If it was one of the centralised divorce courts, they will transfer the case to the local court where he resides, so they can enforce. That court will then schedule you for a 10 minute hearing. The fee is £50. In my case, the judge was only interested in the facts in front of his, I was owed the money, it hadn't been paid, 14 days to pay.

If you think your Ex has cash/capital, and before he tries to 'dispose' of it, you may be able to, at that hearing ask for your periodical payments to be capitalised. You can also ask for a charging order so you get first dibs on any of his property sales.

Thank you for all your replies, really appreciate it. There is no section for CM on the order only periodical payments. I filed with the court last week for breach, phoned them yesterday and they had 'lost' my application and found it while on the phone with me and said it will go before the judge yesterday morning. The only way he could have taken another £60,000 in debt thinking about it is if he took out an additional secured loan on the house which he isn't allowed to do as it's written into the order none of us can take out any loans against the property, but seeing as he thinks he's above the law I wouldn't put it past him to pull a fast one on this. He still hasn't transferred the equity of the house into joint names so could possibly explain he's extra debt

Hi so I have got his financial statements still waiting on some outstanding as we exchanged last week. He's made such a mess of his company bank account spending all the money in there not leaving anything for his liabilities. When preparing for the court hearing next week. If I can prove that he could have made the payments without any problem and met his company and personal liabilities would that be sufficient for the courts or do I have to also propose a solution to his financial mess?

You do not have to solve his financial mess. That is his problem, not yours.

Thanks so much for your reply. So if I illustrate to the courts what he should have done and that there were more than adequate funds that would be sufficient? Would the courts suggest a financial advisor then to sort out his mess? All this directly affects the kids and our home.

To OP

Now that CMS have made an assessment it makes no difference if Child Maintenance was not included in the Consent Order.

Yeah absolutely but as a consequence he's applied to the court to reduce spousal maintenance saying he was £150k in debt and couldn't afford the payments. In reality I've established it's far less than that and in fact he can afford it but has either deliberately or stupidly made a mess.

If you can show that nothing has changed since the order was made, and that he was perfectly able to afford to pay the maintenance subject to certain reasonable adjustments, or that you accepted less by way of capital because he was willing to pay spouse maintenance at that level, I think you'll be OK.

Brilliant thanks @Collaborate that's exactly what I needed to know. Spent hours yesterday trawling over my spreadsheets trying to come up with a solution to the mess he's made and then got irritated that once again I'm coming up with a solution for him when I don't feel I should.

that once again I'm coming up with a solution for him when I don't feel I should

Read what prh47bridge said which was:

You do not have to solve his financial mess. That is his problem, not yours

As applicant for the Consent Order to be changed he will have to prove his case. You don't have to disprove anything.

Yeah but he is the type of person that will make it look a lot worse than it is. He clearly doesn't know what he's doing so I think putting it in a format to the judge that clearly illustrates he could afford it can only help me. Well that's the way I see it anyway may be wrong.

They have just asked for additional documentation. Do I have to provide what isn't on the list of documents for the court?

Depends on what order the court made on 3 August.

The court hearing got moved so both hearings are being heard at the same time

Fgs what a nob he is.