Divorce – Complicated

mechanicalman_2

Please bare with me, this is complicated, well it’s a farce actually.
My parents have been married for a good 30 years, there are 3 children (including me), all 3 of us have left home. Around 7 years ago my so called farther started having an affair, fairly openly. My mother was not happy, but decided to accept it, hoping he would finish it one day. They still live together to this day.
Things now appear to have come to a boil. My father has taken away all of my mother’s debit cards/credit cards, and she has to ask for money when she wants/needs to buy anything (I suspect he has found out that my mother has been spending all his/their money).
My mother now wants to get a divorce, but has not told him yet (I suspect he does not want to get divorced due to the financial implications). How is she supposed to pay for a lawyer if she has no money? It feels from my point of view as if he is kind of abusing here, she is trapped in this situation, with no way out.
Can anybody give me some advice? Would she be entitled to any kind of legal aid, even though he earns a good wage? What would happen if he were to try and kick her out of their home, as she has no money, and no access to any.
Any advice would be great,
MM

daska

Community Legal Advice 0845 345 4 345 would be a good place to start

WomensAid would be another useful source of advice - what he's doing would class as financial violence

Shelter for housing advice, it's probably best that she stays put while she finds out exactly where she stands.

what a nasty situation for her to find herself in

Errata

She can pay her divorce lawyer from the proceeds of the divorce, which sound substantial.

xtcc

She should go to a solicitor, most of them do a free first consultation.
If she has no money they will be able to advise on legal aid or as Errata said proceeds from the divorce will cover the costs. She has legal rights regarding the house and financial support from her husband.

Have a look on wikivorce.com website they will be able to help and advise.

mechanicalman_2

Thanks for the replys, and the speed of the responces.

I will pass on the advice, and no doubt be back at some point with futher questions!

MM

NAR

Another fine example of a control freak. Just a pity he doesn't realise the resources of MSE are more powerful!

clearingout

I too would advise having a good root around the wikivorce website and using that as a starting point to get her thinking sorted and work out what she wants. She can then do a free half hour with a solicitor with a list of questions in front of her, rather than just going now and not really knowing what it is she wants or needs to know!