17 Years unpaid child maintenance

KarmaAmelia_2

Flyboy152 wrote: »

Oops, :doh: that'll teach me to read beyond the OP. :embarasse

Thats okay still appreciate your help hehe :-)

kelloggs36

It is too late regarding child support- there was the opportunity at the time to get a court order, but this has now passed (if prior to 1993). Post 1993 there was the CSA - too late for this also I'm afraid. Defo go for advice regarding mortgage; was there an order that the house be sold once children leave education or something similar? If so, then you need to get help fast as he could force sale of house. Same goes for if no order in place at all.

Kimitatsu

When they got divorced was there not a full financial disclosure carried out? You could find out from the order that will still be held by the court. Although there may not have been an order for child maintenance, there may have been an order regarding the house.

Otherwise you need to seek the advice of a solicitor and have the house split on the basis of who has paid off the mortgage and who paid the deposit.......you could argue that it was given over in lieu of maintenance but he may argue with that. Unfortunately you cant claim maintenance retrospectively.

dizzydusty

Hi OP,

My question to your lawyer (if you get one) would be when did the house cease to become a matrimonial home. If the father left, didn't financialy contribute after he left to the running or upkeep of the house, and the mother and father divorced I would say that he was only liable for half the cost of the house for the period he resided in it.

This of course may not be the case if the house was in joint names and remains in joint names, but as Kimitatsu said, I would get the divorce papers out and see what the agreement was regarding the house - I would find it strange if something as important as a matrimonial home was left out of either the separation agreement or the divorce.

RAS

I suspect this case has brought him out of the woodwork http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2010/05/less-than-ambulatory-intentions/ even though that referred to an unmarried couple.

This should have been dealt with by the divorce settlement.

claire111

What many people don't realise is that there are two parts to the divorce;

The actual divorce (that allows you to re-marry)

The 'financial divorce' sometimes known as a final financial order

It is possible to get 'divorced' without sorting out the finances.

The assets (both his and hers) remain jointly owned. The problem then can be (20 years down the line) that no amount of logic can predict how the court will want to split money and assets.

Trust me, if you can't agree between you and have to go to court 'Fair' just doesn't come into it......

Do your own research and then seek legal advice.

HTH
C

KarmaAmelia_2

Aha! Hi all. I've managed to get some more information:

At the divorce the father was legally requested to pay £5 per week per child (there are 3) until they reached 18.

He never paid £1 of that money.

This is set out in the divorce settlement papers.

Does this change things?

Also, the divorce settlement says that his mom should sell the house and all the proceeds go to her. Do you think this will help with taking the name off the mortgage/deed?

clearingout

I would assume that she was supposed to sell the house to release him from the mortgage. She didn't do this. He could now have gone 17 years without being able to get another mortgage himself as he already has one. He could probably argue he's owed something as a result ('cos if he'd had his own mortgage, after 17 years, it could be assumed he'd have a bit of equity now)? Of course, the reverse is true - if he'd wanted a mortgage in his own right, he could have demanded that she sell the house as per the agreement at the point of divorce and if necessary, it would have been possible to get a court to enforce this.

I don't think the non-payment of maintenance will come into it.

KarmaAmelia_2

Hi,

No he's got another mortgage, he more or less brought one outright with the money from the joint back accounts that he emptied.

The maintenance query is more about supporting his mom if she needs to foot any costs to remove him from the deeds/mortgage.

If he were to go down this route, I take it he can't "claim" as such and would have to put a case through court to try and sue him?

clearingout

I would suggest that the time to act would be when a solicitor's letter falls through the letterbox demanding his share of the house. Remebering, of course, that even if that actually happens, the ex can have told a solicitor all sorts of rubbish prompting such a letter and/or he could be advised by a solicitor to try and put a bit of pressure on to see if it results in a pay out.

Until such a time as a letter is received (or indeed, court papers), I'd simply ignore him. He may jump up and down a bit but if he's got no case, he'll disappear. If his advisers think he's got a case, then legal advice should be sought.

Getting together relevant paperwork would be useful - the divorce paperwork for a start, evidence of sole mortgage payment, evidence of any attempts to contact him over the years in relation to the house (if it happened), that kind of thing. That way, if solicitors or the courts get involved, the paperwork is ready.

Of course, the lady concerned does need to think about her future and yes, getting him off the paperwork. What happens if she dies? He still has rights to the house in law, for example, which she wouldn't necessarily want. Many solicitors will do a free half hour so it might be worth seeking some advice that way. Alternatively, the CAB might be able to help.