Urgent re money !!

[bunblebee]

just checked my online account and my soon to be ex has stopped this months money. I am due to start divorce proceedings next week and he says he wont pay me any money till he knows I've started. Nice.... Anyway does anyone know how long it will take for the law to make him start paying me again? I am a SAHM with a mortgage to pay next week and no money to do it with !

hi bunblebee,
sorry you are in this situation.
unfortunately, if you start a 'normal' application for ancillary relief (financial support) through the Court at the same time as issuing divorce proceedings, it is not going to happen overnight. What usually happens is once you issue proceedings, you will get a Court date for a First Directions Appointment. This is usually around 12 weeks after you have made the application and between the time of issue and the appointment, both you and your ex will have to complete and file (send to Court and other party) financial statements (Form E) setting out all your financial information, ie assets, income, outgoings, pension etc. (Usually filed/served 35 days prior to hearing) Once exchanged you will have the opportunity of going through each others Form E and preparing a Questionnaire (based on info in form) and request for further information. This is usually filed 14 days prior to the hearing but does not need to be replied to before it. At the hearing the District Judge (DJ) will consider the Form E's, questionnaires etc and make an order with regards to the answering of the questions and request for documents. The matter will then usually be listed for a further hearing, a Financial Dispute Resolution Hearing (FDR), usually around 3 months later, depending on the court listing/waiting times. Both parties will be encouraged to negotiate in order to try to reach an agreement without the Court having to make an Order. At the FDR (in not previously settled) the DJ will give an indication as to what he/she would order if they were hearing the matter as a final hearing. Again, you would be encouraged to reach an agreement but failing that, the matter will be listed for a final hearing which potentially could be up to 12 months from when you first issued your application.

Clearly, given the timescales, that really doesn't help you now. (I've simply spelt this out for you so you understand what the 'normal' proceedure is, not to scare you)

In your circumstance, clearly you cannot wait this long if your ex is refusing to pay you money now.
you therefore will need your solicitor to issue (at the same time as your divorce petition) an application for Maintenance Pending Suit. This is a much shorter process and usually only used when in circumstances such as you describe. You would get a hearing much quicker and at the hearing the DJ would normally take a 'broad brush' approach and order that your ex pay you a set sum in the interim to cover your immediate needs. You therefore need to have a figure available to cover all necessities, ie mortgage, council tax, utilities, food, household etc. Your ex would be encouraged to recommence paying your money immediately (before even the matter went to Court if he had a solicitor) as quite often the Court take a very dimm view on men who basically turn off the tap in the way he is threatening. I'm pretty sure if you instructed a solicitor immediately and he/she wrote to him threatening an application for MPS hopefully he would use his common sense and begin paying the money to you to avoid court proceedings. If it was necessary for you to make such an application, it is probable that your ex would be ordered to pay your costs.

If you haven't already made an appointment with a solicitor you should do so immediately and from what you've said, you should be eligible for public funding (legal aid) so try to find one with a public funding franchise if you can.

Of course you will be very worried about this but please try not to worry and phone a solicitor straight away, rather than wait until next week. Hopefully a letter to him threatening all sorts of nasty applications will give him the kick up the arse he clearly needs.

I won't bore you with the CSA route, it will take too long (for you to apply and get money as opposed to me explaining it) You need financial support NOW, not in 6 months.

Also, if he is still indicating he won't pay, contact your bank, try to get an overdraft and keep your mortgage company informed of the situation. Also, find out what benefits you are eligible for. Good luck x

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me, MOS. I am hoping that this is just a power trip for him and he will start paying again sooner rather than later. So much for a civilised divorce !

You will probably find he is just being a control freak and as soon as he gets a letter from your solicitor he will hopefully realise the error of his ways.
I've seen several very cocky men come horribly unstuck at MPS hearings when they've been ordered to pay far more than they would have expected to as the DJ's to tend to punish them for their twatish behaviour (non legal term there obviously)
good luck. I'll keep an eye out for you over the next few days but will be offline from Sunday til around Wednesday so hurry up and see a solicitor before the weekend!

right, seen solicitor yesterday, letter in post demanding money in my account within 7 days or else. Release the hounds ! Thanks again MOS x

well done bunblebee, kick arse x

belive it or not, he is claiming not to have recieved any paperwork from my solicitor, and says that I do not need the money anyway, so is refusing to pay! My solicitor says she will apply now for a court date and we will take it from there. Would it be possible that he really has not had any paperwork? My solicitor swears she has sent it, so surely she has? Am writing this from a cafe as I have had to disconnect the internet from home to try and save some money, so may not be able to reply for a while, so don't think I'm ignoring anyone!

He is being difficult on purpose. He is going to get his arse kicked when it goes to court.
(Is this sort of nasty, childish bullying the reason you are divorcing him, by any chance?)

belive it or not, he left me! Think he is seeing the grass isn't quite so green over there after all !

gaa, don't always start everything "belive it or not" honestly !

he is being a twat! What are the chances of the paperwork not being received by him? I know that the old letter may go astray but I think its probably more likely that he has ostrich syndrome and is simply sticking his head in the sand and ignoring it.
Like solid says, he will get his arse kicked.

well, the saga continues...am waiting on a court date as he is still only giving me approx half of the money. He says it's all my fault it's got to go to court for "running to the solicitor" as soon as he stopped paying me! So, what should I expect from court? Do I have to attend and say anything, if so , what? Will he have to pay the money owed (now standing at £500) right away?
Also, what about the house, it is in joint names, and I don't want to have to sell if possible. As I don't work, the bank wont let me take on the mortgage at the moment, so what is likely to happen?
Sorry for all the questions, but this is starting to get on top of me now.

bum

assume you meant 'bump'?
It depends on what sort of application your solicitor applied for.
If a 'regular' application for anciallary relief (finances) then you'd normally get a court date around 12 weeks later and prior to that both you and your H will need to complete, swear, file (send to Court) and exchange (with each other) financial statements in Form E. this is a long detailed form which sets out all information regarding your financial situation, ie income, capital assets, pension and other information such as your income needs (ie mortgage/bills/food & household etc) These are exchanged 28 days prior to the first court appointment and then 14 days before each of you is supposed to file and serve questionnaires based on each others Form E's. For example, if you have any queries ref the contents of his Form E, assets etc you would ask questions or for supporting documentation (although some documents are required to accompany the Form E). You do not need to answer the questionnaires/request for documentation prior to the First Appointment but at the hearing the District Judge (DJ) will consider the papers and make an order with regards to the answering of the questions, whether they should all be answered and timescales for doing so. No order would normally be made in the interim with regards to finances and the matter would be listed for a further hearing, normally 3 to 4 months later (called an FDR) You would be encouraged to negotiate and if unable to settle before or at the FDR the DJ would hear some of the evidence and any proposals for settlement made and would give an indication on what he/she would order if hearing it at a final hearing. If you cannot settle at the FDR, the matter will be listed for a final hearing, usually around 4 months later, depending on the amount of time required (depending on evidence/facts) and at that hearing a final order would be made.

If possible, you would remain in the former matrimonial home (FMH) at least in the interim but that really depends on the size of the house (ie if 2 kids and a 2/3 bed house you should be safe but if a 4/5 bed house and therefore 'spare' rooms your ex may have a good argument for the FMH to be sold and a smaller/cheaper property purchased. Impossible to say without loads more info on your finances/equity/other assets etc what is likely to happen but hopefully your ex would be paying enough maintenance for children (and possibly spousal maintentance - short term interim maintenance for you) which would cover the mortgage If you object to selling the matter would need to go to a final hearing for an order for sale so you are safe for up to a year, if not longer in your house
As you can see, these things take forever but hopefully your solicitor has applied for interim maintenance (MPS = maintenance pending suit) which would be a much shorter process. You would get a court date much quicker or sometimes they may apply for a MPS hearing to be heard at the first appointment. At these hearings the DJ's take a 'broad brush' approach and usually order an amount of interim maintenance which may well be higher than would be ordered at a final hearing as they sometimes tend to punish a husband who turns the tap off in the way that yours has done.

At the first few hearings, you would normally not have to say too much as you have a solicitor representing you (other than clarifying matters) however if the matter went to a contested final hearing you would be examined and possibly cross-examined by your husband's solicitor/barrister. Please do not worry though, very few matters actually go to a final contested hearing.

You need to check with your solicitor whether she has applied for MPS or a normal application for ancillary relief (AR).

Try not to let it get to you x