Court fees - Deprivation of capital?

TheTortieEllie

Hi,

I'm in a horrible situation where I'm going to have to go to court for child access/custody, because my ex partner wants to have access nearly all the week, is not reasonable, and wishes to change the arrangements all the time.

I've been looking at the court fees and because I have savings over £16,000 (£18,000), the court documents say that I would be liable to pay £7,000 AND above in court fees (effectively wiping out my life's savings). He has £15,000 of debt through mismanagement and frivolity, so he wouldn't have to pay anything, despite having a higher paid job than me!

Added to this, I am likely to be facing redundancy/job loss, but only at the end of the year AFTER I would have to pay out all my savings on court

So I was looking at doing two things to avert being jobless before all this: re-registering for my former healthcare profession job with the HPC and completeing a "Fitness to practice" course and also spending £2,000 on a health and social care course concurrently. However, given the upcoming legal proceedings, will this now count as "Deprivation of capital". I feel like I'm being locked in to having to give up everyhing I've worked for because of my ex Can anyone advise?

browneyedbazzi

I'm not an expert, but I don't see why spending money on work-related professional fees and training when you are under threat of redundancy would be considered deprivation of capital unless you are specifically doing it for that reason (I presume you could honestly say it's a 'happy coincidence' that you need to spend the money at a time when it will put your savings below the line when it comes to working out the court fees).

TheTortieEllie

That's what I thought . . I am looking to set up a private business and need to reapply for my registration etc to do this, as a backup for if my job goes. It seems frustrating that I could be blocked from helping myself because of my ex and his vindictiveness - should I ask my solicitor this?

Kayalana99

TheTortieEllie wrote: »

That's what I thought . . I am looking to set up a private business and need to reapply for my registration etc to do this, as a backup for if my job goes. It seems frustrating that I could be blocked from helping myself because of my ex and his vindictiveness - should I ask my solicitor this?

Yes. :money:

Caz3121

TheTortieEllie wrote: »

I've been looking at the court fees and because I have savings over £16,000 (£18,000), the court documents say that I would be liable to pay £7,000 AND above in court fees (effectively wiping out my life's savings). He has £15,000 of debt through mismanagement and frivolity, so he wouldn't have to pay anything, despite having a higher paid job than me!

I read the documentation slightly different to you. Your savings will indeed mean that you would not qualify on that basis but it does not say that you would have to pay £7k+
eg - if your case was up to £1,000 you are only allowed £3,000 in disposable capital
However as you both work you may find that neither of you would qualify based on your income alone
eg a single person with no children at home would need to earn less than £13k before tax to qualify

http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/ex160a-from-07-october-eng.pdf

TheTortieEllie

OK. . . but techically it -could- cost over £7,000?

It doesn't seem fair that I would be liable to pay all the court fees for being hard-working and saving for my future, whereas another party who blows all their money on loans and a lifestyle etc. gets it all for practically nothing?

With the timing of the case I would technically be employed full time up until my return to work date, but then unemployed after this time - would this be taken into account also?

I don't see that reinstating my professional membership and underaking training to do so could be construed as "Deprivation", given the uncertainty about my work situation, but I am concerned that someone might try this . . .

newcook

Rather than go to court, can you not sit down with ex and come to some proper agreement and then have it written up by the solicitors as a formal agreement?
Why do you find it unreasonable that he wants to spend time with his child? Is the child old enough to decide how much time they want to spend with their dad?

Caz3121

So if the court fees come to £4k your income would need to be low and your disposable capital would need to be under £8k....
so you keep your £18k and pay out £4k leaving you £14k

or you get rid of £10k to get your capital down so you don't need to pay (assuming you would qualify based on low income) leaving you under £8k

agree with the post above, is there no way you can sort this out without a lengthy and expensive court case. Unless your ex is on a low income he will be needing to pay too increasing his debts so may also be keen to resolve

Voyager2002

Just to clarify: if your Ex is working and earning above the poverty line he will also have to pay his court costs. So mediation would be in both of your interests... In general, the rules about legal aid are so complex that you need your solicitor to help you make a successful application.

Note that even if you get a court order about child access, these are often ignored in practice and there is little or no penalty, so mediation and some kind of reasonable agreement is really the only way forward.

krok

There is no legal aid anymore for divorce, contact, access rights in the county court.

You can only get legal aid if there has been domestic violence.

This has been the case since April 2013.

TheTortieEllie

I just rang the court to clarify the situation and they basically confirmed what you said Caz, however, they also said that I might "awarded" all his costs and solicitors fees . . .