urgent legal advice needed to navigate a court hearing

[AngelaKennedy]

I am an ex Director of a company that was run and owned by my childrens father - we have twins age 9. We have not been together for 5 years or more. The company dissolved in 2019, and I resigned in 2018. I have worked PAYE all my life for other companies, never had a controlling position in the company and never had access to the accounts.

I am now being requested to attend a court hearing as an ex director of this company as they are looking to recover costs, as part of the liquidation. as part of this the liquidators are looking to force a sale of my flat, my only asset. We are currently not living in this flat as I had to move out as the dad wouldn't move and I couldn't stand it anymore. Now 5 years on, and having got him out of the flat I am being asked to pay for his director debt aswell as my own. His directors debt would basically be all my profit gone from the flat.

I didn't ask for any of this. I have put up with an abusive situation for 15 years, and now I am being asked to pay for debts I never knew about. My court case is on the 10th January and I have no idea where to start. I did visit a solicitor and together we came up with a strategy that basically means I take responsibility for my £10k Directors Debt and dispute the other Director Debt which comes to around £70k. I can't afford a barrister, and the advise I took from the solicitor quoted me £8k to represent me, to make a skeleton argument and to gather evidence etc. and for the barrister to represent me in court.

Would it make a difference if I lived in the flat they wish to force a sale on? as a mother of twins, would this safeguard my asset as our only home? the only reason I a renting a place was to move out of it because the kids dad wouldn't move. I had to threaten him with bailiffs and remove the interest for him to move. He is abusive and has been controlling me financially for 15 years, and it feels like there is no end in sights. He has since declared himself homeless, which is whey I am being chased for his directors debt.

any advise to navigate this would be much appreciated.

@StuckInTheUpsideDown as far as I am aware I wasn't a personal guarantee of the companies borrowings. Also, I have a feeling that D1 (defendent 1 who is the other director) used the company account as his own personal account.

@Justcallmebebes I have emailed clerksroom this morning :) good advice. They are seeing if they can find someone available for the court hearing on the 10 January. Any takers?

Ok well then I’m still not clear on what basis the liquidators are suggesting you are liable but presumably you’ve got that advice. Getting a direct access barrister is a good plan but you will need to be able to spell this out to them as defending a directors duties claim is quite different to a contractual guarantee claim. Your situation is clearly complex and likely more than this board can help with.

appreciate this is no help now but you can file the resignation paperwork yourself if you resign as a director at Companies House. So the liquidators may rebuff claims you tried to resign on that basis.

You HAVE to find a way to be strong enough to use this evidence. If you don't you will lose everything.

How did you go?

im not sure what you mean about director debt, but if you are the director of a company you are responsible for properly managing the company. You can’t just say you didn’t know anything at a later date to get out of it! You accepted a position of responsibility and you will be held liable.

for some types of directors liabilities you can argue it’s not just and equitable but there’s not enough information here. If it’s a debt you owe the company, you will have to pay.

moral of the story is don’t accept a directorship if you can’t actually manage the affairs of the company.

I didn't think you can seize personal assets from a director of a limited company unless you have given a personal guarantee on a loan or something like that (or worse).

By means of a follow up. I didn't attend the court hearing on the 10th January 2023, it would have been too much for me.

AND, stupidly in December 2022 I signed a Tomlin Order with the other director (father to my children) to remove the court hearing.

Details of Tomlin Order: 1.1.1. The amount of £1,805.55 to be paid on or before the last Friday of each month for 36 consecutive months, with the first monthly payment to be paid on or before 31 December 2022.

The other director made the first 2 months payments, at huge stress to me as I had no guarantee the other director would pay it which made him so angry when I asked. And then realising he wouldn't make these payments beyond the first 2, I made the 5 subsequant payments.

After some advice from 'Support Through Court' I submitted an N244 in August 2023, and stopped paying the Tomlin Order. I was applying to get this Tomlin Order set aside, which I now know is really hard. I had a hearing and I presented my case on the 27th November 2023 to a judge and solicitor to the claimant. The judge has given me 8 weeks to submit 'evidence' in support of the Tomlin order being signed under duress and I have put together a bundle of stuff in this regard.

In summary
On 27 November 2023 I had a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London WC2A 2LL, where I presented myself against the Claimant’s barrister. The judge ruled that if I wish to continue this claim I need to submit further evidence in support of the Tomlin Order being signed by myself under duress, fear and coercive control - I have exhibits/evidence of this. He gave me until 24 January 2024 to submit further evidence, which has now become my ‘Court Bundle’. I feel this is my ‘corner kick’, to be heard and present a case of coercive control and the signing of the Tomlin Order was under manipulation, the duress and fear of my ex, with no other option since it put my flat at risk.

What was particularly interesting during the hearing, was two distressed emails I wrote to the Claimant’s lawyer on 31 August 2022, 4 months before I signed the Tomlin Order. In the first email I clearly state my mental health struggles with the case and my ex, and that I have nothing to do with the liability whatsoever. In the second email, sent 14 minutes after the first, I elaborate by saying that my ex has mentally scarred me for life and that I live in constant fear of who will turn up at her door (due to the number of bailiffs that I have had to deal with over the years as a result of my ex). I also state that my ex is a thief and fraudster. That same lawyer wrongfully wrote in her witness statement: “In the three years prior Ms Angela Kennedy has not mentioned coercive control by her ex. Coercive control has only been raised in the Application when Ms Angela Kennedy became unable to pay the monthly installments due to an apparent change in financial circumstances' '. This is lying in her witness statement as I got the two emails as proof. Her response was/is hughley upsetting - upsetting to be ignored like that. The Judge seemed baffled that the Claimant’s barrister had no knowledge of these two emails. These emails are of course part of my ‘Court Bundle’.

The Tomlin Order came into existence by means of a ‘settlement’ of the Directors Debt from a liquidated company. There was a court hearing scheduled for 10 January 2023 which was vacated upon signing the Tomlin Order. I signed it as i couldn’t have attended a court hearing, this was too much for me emotionally and mentally. Even my ex used those words in an email to the liquidators explaining why I would not attend the hearing.

I signed the Tomlin Order as in my view at the time, it was the only way of getting out of the whole mess that had become so complicated and to protect the roof over my children. I was desperate to protect our family home that I solely own. I was relentlessly targeted by my ex, his accountants, the liquidators and the Claimants lawyers as I was the only one with assets. My ex declared himself homeless during this time, yet owns a boat in Farnham, drives a Land Rover, has cheap but sound accommodation in West London and to my disbelief continues to run a business and up until recently had an employee. Yet I am being asked, as if I'm his guarantor, to pay the Tomlin Order, not as a joint debt, but as an individual.

NOTE : I have not lived with the father of my children since the 10th October 2018 when I left the family home as he refused to leave and I didn’t want my children to have memories of his aggressive behavior towards me. I also get ZERO assistance from him in the form of child maintenance.

I am now reaching out to charities to see if I can get any help with legal advice, perhaps assisting with putting the bundle together - I have collected witness statements, I have a picture from when Def. 1 hit me, I have lots of screenshots of the kind of abusive messages that were sent to me, I have a videos and audio files in support of 'coercive control' and 'signing the Tomlin order under duress' as a result of on-going abuse.

If anyone here, would like to assist as I know many responded so well previously. To be honest, I should have attended the hearing that was scheduled on the 10th Jan but I just couldn't, it is only now I can do this having moved back into the family home - the home I vacated because defendant 1 refused to.

I do need to find a barrister to represent me, and ideally help me with a skeleton argument. I am writing this by means of a followup on the off chance anyone can assist. I am as a result of Defendant 1, broke (legal aid isn't applicable or rather I don't tick the boxes). I feel the judge has given me a 'corner kick'. I welcome all feedback, it really is much appreciated. I am also happy to share 'my story' in full with evidence etc. that forms the 'bundle' if you can help.

I will tag those who replied before as I feel you had some GREAT feedback. @AsdaYellowTins @BetterFuture1985 @Cornelious @Fragrantandfoolish @Itsoktogiveup @Justcallmebebes @Keepingthingsinteresting @Newusernameaug @OhDearOhDearOops @RedHelenB @SomeBeings @StuckInTheUpsideDown @SueVineer @Verite1 @anonymous123a @cupofdecaf @femfemlicious @kirinm @pompei8309 @skeemee @stopbeeping @taxpayer1 @user1474127873