Help please! need advice as solicitors not at all helpful

madrhino

Sorry if I've posted in the wrong forum, feel free to move it if I have.

I am writing this on behalf of a friend who doesn't have internet access. She's on the phone with me right now so I can get all the information right.

She is currently going through a divorce, and really everything should be finished by now. They have no kids, but did have a house that needed to be sold and the assets (bank accounts etc.) needed to be split. It is with the division of the assets that the problem lies.

The house was sold at a lower price than my friend wanted, but the ex wanted a quick sale so he agreed to pay my friend the difference between the asking price and the sale price (before they accepted the offer).

My friend started a 1 year university course before they split up. Her ex persuaded her to take out a student loan to beef up their income, even though it wasn't needed as he was on a very good salary. It was 2 months into the course when they split up, leaving the loan in my friends name. As part of the divorce settlement he agreed to pay the entirety of the loan.

However, even though the extra money for the house and the student loan were agreed to be paid back by her ex, the financial consent document takes the money owed off the equity of the house, and divides the remainder equally between the two parties. The problem with this is that it reduces my friend total share by about three thousand pounds. The money should have been divided between the two parties and THEN he should have given her the money promised. It should have come off his half.

My friend has just made an offer on a house which has been accepted, and she could do with the full amount as her deposit.

The initial letter that she received stated that the equity would be split equally and then he would pay her the extra money. In subsequent documents his solicitor had changed the wording to say that the money he owed her would be taken off the equity and then it would be split. Her solicitor has been next to useless. Her solicitor hasn't noticed any alterations from the initial document and seems more concerned that her ex shouldn't be kept waiting for his share of the money rather than representing my friend the best she can. Whenever his solicitor has written a harsh letter, she (my friends solicitor) seems concerned not to upset the other side, rather than standing her ground.

My friend is feeling under a lot of pressure. She doesn't want to lose the house by not having any deposit in the bank but at the same time she doesn't want to lose the money. Should she just accept this amount and later complain about poor service from her solicitor or should she stand her ground. She is a lovely person who has had a tough 20 months through no fault of her own and this is really causing her sleepless nights.

I have persuaded her to ask for help on here as I have been impressed by the great advice I have seen for other people.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to try and explain the situation properly.

DKLS

My first response would be to sack the solicitor and replace with a pit bull solicitor, but the costs could quickly rise above 3K, your friend needs to work out if the fight is worth it or not.

Witsend_2

I am so sorry to hear of your friends situation and what wonderful support you must be to her. I am affraid that I have no answers for you although it seems that there are a lot of solicitors out there who don't seem to have womens best interests at heart. IMO your friend is only getting half of the agreed extra if it is taken off before the money is split 50/50 her solicitor should at the very least be able to comprehend this?
Sending hugs and good luck to you both.

mookiandco

Its no good agreeing it and then complaining about the service from her solicitor. That is a seperate issue and she will not get back the money by complaining. Your friend is now aware that the Consent Order is not what she initially agreed so it is a matter for her whether she gets her solicitor to write to the other side before the Consent Order is lodged with the court. Once the Consent Order is sealed by the Court there isnt really a way back. If your friend is publicly funded she needs to bear in mind that the statutory charge will arise as a result of her getting money/property in this matter. She will therefore be required to pay back her legal costs. If she is privately funded she needs to also consider whether the costs of pursuing a change in the Consent Order are getting to escalate the costs beyond the £3000.00. This is entirely possible if no agreement can now be reached and the ex issues Ancillary relief proceedings. There is then the time factor. If the matter ends up going to court i'm afraid she might be looking at another 12 months before matters come to an end if agreement cant be reached before then. If the ex is desperate for matters to be concluded quickly which it seems he is, he may well agree to the consent order being amended since it would be in line with the original agreement anyway.

Not many solicitors would take on her case at this late stage anyway and bear in mind that any solicitor who does will escalate the costs because they will need to consider all the previous file of papers.

She needs to give her clear instructions to her solicitors to write to the other side requesting an amendment to the consent order. Furthermore she needs to ask her solicitors why they did not draw her attention to the variation of the consent order that was not in line with the original agreement. I wish her well and heres hoping for a swift conclusion to what has no doubt been a very difficuly and emotionally draining period of her life.

scottishchick27

Is her solicitor a partner in the firm she is using? If she isn't then ask to speak to the partner who is overseeing her solicitors work. If she is a partner then ask your friend to ask to speak to the partner who deals with complaints within the firm, they might be able to get it sorted in the way she wants. Would save her a heap of fees hiring another solicitor to do it.

madrhino

Thanks for the advice so far. I have given her the link to this thread so she can check it out when she's at work.

Complaining about the solicitor is a separate matter. I think she should do this as the solicitor will have other clients, some who may be more vulnerable than her, who won't necessarily be getting the best representation. I see the complaint process as a way to (hopefully) get them to pull their socks up. Luckily my friend will say when she isn't happy with something, it seems that she has constantly had to push the solicitor into action. During this process the solicitor has tried to persuade her to sign documents she wasn't happy with, and she has refused. She didn't realise there was a discrepancy in the consent order, as that isn't HER job.

Her solicitor is (I think) newly qualified. I have suggested to my friend to contact the head of the firm and I believe she will do this.

The dilemma is that she has found a house to buy that she loves and she doesn't want to risk losing it by not having the deposit in the bank, it could take ages to sort it out properly.

The divorce is privately funded.

Just to say I love MSE. I cannot think of anywhere else where people will offer so much information to help other people.

pinkshoes

You're friend needs to remember that the solicitor isn't just "part of the process", and that she is paying for this service! She should write to the solicitor immediately, pointing out the changes that she's not happy with, and insist that they are put right. Send it recorded delivery, so at least she'll know they definitely received it!

My friend has just made an offer on a house which has been accepted, and she could do with the full amount as her deposit.

How much money are we talking here?! When buying a house, you'll need a 10% deposit, along with a spare £4k for solicitors, stamp duty, moving costs etc... and then you should also have enough spare to be able to pay your mortgage for AT LEAST 6 months should you lose your job/not be able to work. If your friend is so strapped for cash without this money, is buying another house wise?

galvanizersbaby

pinkshoes wrote: »

You're friend needs to remember that the solicitor isn't just "part of the process", and that she is paying for this service! She should write to the solicitor immediately, pointing out the changes that she's not happy with, and insist that they are put right. Send it recorded delivery, so at least she'll know they definitely received it!



How much money are we talking here?! When buying a house, you'll need a 10% deposit, along with a spare £4k for solicitors, stamp duty, moving costs etc... and then you should also have enough spare to be able to pay your mortgage for AT LEAST 6 months should you lose your job/not be able to work. If your friend is so strapped for cash without this money, is buying another house wise?

I wouldn't have enough spare to pay my mortgage for 6 months in the event of disaster :rotfl: - think a lot of people go for mortgage payment protection for this?

OP - I agree with pinkshoes your friend needs to be very clear and precise with her instructions to the solicitor with regard to how she wishes to proceed - if the message doesn't get across she will need to speak to a senior partner to resolve this - I can understand she is worrying about holding things up and losing the property she is after but in the current climate surely she has the upper hand here if she is a buyer with nothing to sell?

I've had a rubbish solicitor myself (not alone here I suspect!) so I know how frustrating it can be when you just want everything resolved but she really needs to stand her ground here if she needs the extra money.

pinkshoes

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

I wouldn't have enough spare to pay my mortgage for 6 months in the event of disaster :rotfl: - think a lot of people go for mortgage payment protection for this?

And a lot of people are thus being ripped off...

Would you consider someone who discovered their 4 main archeries to their heart were blocked and they were in desperate need of a quadruple heart bypass, and had to give up their job as otherwise they'd have a heart attack and die to be someone worthy of the mortgage payment protection paying out? Er.... nope! Apparently that doesn't count...

These companies do anything to find a loophole to avoid paying out, and often the delay until payment can be so long that it's already too late, causing SO much stress for the people trying to claim. Even worse when you work out how much you've paid over so many years, and then they won't pay out...

Just a word of warning for people - Don't assume that they'll pay out!

galvanizersbaby

pinkshoes wrote: »

And a lot of people are thus being ripped off...

Would you consider someone who discovered their 4 main archeries to their heart were blocked and they were in desperate need of a quadruple heart bypass, and had to give up their job as otherwise they'd have a heart attack and die to be someone worthy of the mortgage payment protection paying out? Er.... nope! Apparently that doesn't count...

These companies do anything to find a loophole to avoid paying out, and often the delay until payment can be so long that it's already too late, causing SO much stress for the people trying to claim. Even worse when you work out how much you've paid over so many years, and then they won't pay out...

Just a word of warning for people - Don't assume that they'll pay out!

Good point - I've never had to take out payment protection myself as it is included in my salary package at work but fortunately I've never had the need to claim - guess it would depend on your circumstances in the first place and whether you want to take the risk.

If I were buying a property at the moment I would be inclined to hold off for other reasons but guess that's a different thread!