child maintenance

jesmin45

my partner received a letter from his estranged wife requesting a divorce on amicable breakdown and 2 yr separation, (come this august they will of been separated for 5 yrs). The letter stressed that she will not be asking for any financial provision or financial contribution from my partner, the solicitor stated that she had been asked to reassure of him this. Their former home was owned by my partner 10 yrs prior to her moving in, her name was never on deeds, when he sold property she got £x which she was happy with, but never signed a full and final settlement. She has a daughter who is now 18, my partner is not the father. The father has never paid child support.
Now my partner has received the divorce papers from the courts and she is now wanting monies from our jointly owned property, his pension and child maintenance as her daughter will be attending college for 2 years. She also wants him to pay for the divorce now.
They were married for 3 years before separating.
Will he have to pay maintenance for her daughter, he has never paid anything to her since they split.
Would she also be entitled to a share in our property and could she force us to sell our home.
She also has a pension (not as much as my partners) and she has recently received £50k inheritance, could my partner be entitled to some of that. He would not normally want anything but its a matter of tit for tat, which is what we wanted to avoid.
If my partner had to fight regarding maintenance in the courts, would the courts ask why the biological father was not paying maintenance.
Thanks for any advice.

Rachel85

I am a little confused - she wants maintenance from him for an 18 year old that's not his?

The_Banker_5

jesmin45 wrote: »

my partner received a letter from his estranged wife requesting a divorce on amicable breakdown and 2 yr separation, (come this august they will of been separated for 5 yrs). The letter stressed that she will not be asking for any financial provision or financial contribution from my partner, the solicitor stated that she had been asked to reassure of him this. Their former home was owned by my partner 10 yrs prior to her moving in, her name was never on deeds, when he sold property she got £x which she was happy with, but never signed a full and final settlement. She has a daughter who is now 18, my partner is not the father. The father has never paid child support.
Now my partner has received the divorce papers from the courts and she is now wanting monies from our jointly owned property, his pension and child maintenance as her daughter will be attending college for 2 years. She also wants him to pay for the divorce now.
They were married for 3 years before separating.
Will he have to pay maintenance for her daughter, he has never paid anything to her since they split.
Would she also be entitled to a share in our property and could she force us to sell our home.
She also has a pension (not as much as my partners) and she has recently received £50k inheritance, could my partner be entitled to some of that. He would not normally want anything but its a matter of tit for tat, which is what we wanted to avoid.
If my partner had to fight regarding maintenance in the courts, would the courts ask why the biological father was not paying maintenance.
Thanks for any advice.

Wow Ive just noticed you havnt been thanked in 51 posts so I have taken this opportunity to thank you.

You have now been thanked once. By me:D

McKneff

I am a little confused about this thanks business. I thought you only thanked people who posted useful information to help people. Why would you thank an poster who is asking for help?

jesmin45

thank you banker .

Rachel I know it sounds unbelieveable but yep thats what she wants!

Errata

Jesmin - the who gets what starts at 50/50 then the negotiation between solicitors starts. If no agreement can be reached, the judge decides what is fair to both.

Paparika

Surly you can't be forced to pay child maintenance for a child you never fathered unless he adopted her?

wannabe_sybil

If the child lived with them during the marriage, regardless of who the father is then the child is a 'child of the marriage' and therefore can ask for maintenance. I believe the reasoning behind it is that the father undertook to maintain the child when they married the mother. Or non gender specific examples.

This sounds to me as if either the wife has suddenly found out that their husband is moving on with their lives and is taken off guard by emotions produced or has thought that they needed a solicitor, who has started the bidding with everything that they think that they could get.

The husband is entitled to a share of assets accrued during the marriage, just as the wife is, and that includes the inheritance and pension.

I think your partner needs his own solicitor, and I would ask for recommendations from people you know and get a good one.

Though it may be worth just seeing if the wife is aware of all that is being asked for, if the lines of communications are still open. This may just be the standard opening gambit of a particular solicitor and the wife may not realise what is going on.

Also, the issue of the biological father of the child will have no bearing on the financial settlement of the divorce, that is a separate issue.

I hope this helps.

Golden_Anemone

Your husband needs a solicitor to advise him on this - this is not a situation where moneysaving is advisable! Anyone here can speculate on what approach a judge may take but it will be just that, speculation. It would be unusual for someone to have to pay maintenance for a child who was not his own but it is possible. Get proper legal advice. Good luck.

Crossed with wannabe sybil.

jesmin45

thanks sybil, it does help. It doesn't seem fair though that she can ask for maintenance from the non biological father, and the biological father can get away with not paying anything. You are also right, she does not like the fact that although they have now ben separated 5 yrs (she left him) she does not like the fact he has moved on. She has said previously she will take him for every penny she can.

Floss

jesmin45 wrote: »

...... his pension.......

Yes she can go after a share of this - proportionate to the time of the marriage.

jesmin45 wrote: »

.......and child maintenance as her daughter will be attending college for 2 years.......

If she is over 18 and has left further education, this is unlikely - but not impossible.

jesmin45 wrote: »

........She also has a pension (not as much as my partners) and she has recently received £50k inheritance, could my partner be entitled to some of that......

YES! And a counter claim to her from your OH's solicitor may cause her claims to suddenly vanish or at least reduce if she thinks she could lose some of that inheritance!