Consent order

MadHen_2

Hi, I wonder if anyone can advise? My friend has been divorced for several years and in the consent order, the judge stated that her exes name should be removed from the house deeds (done), he is responsible for 50% of the mortgage payment until their son finished education or she was in a position to fully take over the mortgage, he would be entitled to 30% of the profit if the house was sold and he should pay £150 per month child support.

My friend has just looked into whether she could afford the mortgage on her own and it has transpired that he has missed several payments recently and has a history of doing so. The mortgage company have never made an issue of this as my friend has never missed a payment. He also stopped paying the child support so my friend applied to the CSA who made an award of £6 per week (yes, six). He has 2 other properties, one which he lives in, the other he rents out and he has no other children. This doesn't seem right to me and I was wondering if anyone can advise whether consent order is legally binding (is there anything he can do because he has defaulted on the mortgage payments) and can the CSA over-rule the original child support judgement?

Your advice would be appreciated as she is in a bit of a state at the moment, and the solicitor she saw baffled her with legal jargon.

mackemdave

The consent order is legally binding and your friend should be making arrangements to go back to court if her ex isnt doing what it says...if the ex wants to apply for changes to the consent this needs to been done via the courts...your friends ex would probably have to pick up any costs

loftus

When was the court order agreed? If it was after April 1993 and has run for more than a year then the CSA can override it when it comes to child maintenance.
As far as the mortgage goes he is breaching the order by not paying.

MadHen_2

Thanks both - the order would have been after 1993, so that makes sense even if I think £6p/w is ridiculous. I am not sure why the solicitor couldn't have put it in such simple terms. Do you know if she needs to request payment from him first or can she take it straight back to court (the less contact between them the better as he does have a history of violence which usually means she backs down).