Negligent legal advice cost me my home in divorce

Floxxie

WillowCat wrote: »

Every case is different, every contract is different. But, to add a note of caution, I had an agreement with my ex that we wrote. When, a while later he took me to court to overturn the agreement, I saw a solicitor who said it wasn't worth the paper it was written on and I should just roll over and give him half my house and pensions. His solicitor of course said it wasn't valid too. However, I did research on the law and found that agreements often be upheld, subject to certain safeguards.

I had this too. However the OP here is clearly vulnerable and received and acted upon incorrect legal information. In addition, as there are also children involved, the original agreement is not in their best interests. I don't think she has any concerns about a judge upholding this in her ex's favour.

I am sure there have been a number of threads on Wikivorce about this as I explored it at the time my ex did a u-turn on an agreed but unsigned Consent Order.

WillowCat

I agree that it all sounds unfair, and I hope she gets the agreement overturned. This will involve taking him to court.

However my ex made the mistake of assuming that the agreement would be overturned and left the door open for me to prove that it shouldn't be. Complacency cost him a lot of money. He also acted on incorrect legal advice but this was not deemed to be a valid defence.

OP, with respect, I think you will get a better outcome by pursuing a financial order than by complaining about the original solicitor. The financial order need not cost any more than the MIAM fee and court fee - and if you have a low income you may get fee remission on these. It is totally possible to represent yourself if you are prepared to do the legwork and research the law.

[Deleted User]

I realise this whole situation has been very difficult. I realise you have had two sets of very conflicting advice from legal professionals. I know your own personal feelings are coming into this.., and this can affect judgement. If you have been in a position of abuse, it takes a very long time to find a level platform again.., judgements are off and affect things to both extremes.

I also know what with my ex, he had committed a serious driving offence.., we found a solicitor who told us the judgement could be appealed, that we had grounds, paid them £1,500, appeal was turned down and the barrister appointed told us immediately after the case we didn't have a hope in hell of succeeding. If we'd been told that at the outset rather than the opposite, we wouldn't have wasted £1.5k.., a lot of money. Solicitors like anyone can be wrong/greedy. I will never trust a solicitor again. But it takes something like this to make that decision lol. I didn't bother pursuing the solicitor because there didn't seem much point. I'd been legally conned, and learned from it.

Be very careful. You seem to be assuming that people are 'pitying' your ex.., but I think you are leaping a bit on that. That is part of what an abused person goes through because they lived with someone and no one saw what they were. Tends to make you a bit hypersensitive. I don't mean this in a judgemental way. I do the same. But it does mean that rather than reading the opinions in an open minded logical way, you are reacting rather than considering them.

I hope this helps.

BeingMe

Thanks WillowCat.

Unfortunately I am very ill at the moment so will have to rely on a solicitor to take my case forward. This is what I plan to do and have set up a couple more initial consultations to find the right one. I didn't ever expect to get anything from the negligent solicitor but I will be complaining to the firm so they are aware.

WillowCat

BeingMe wrote: »

Thank you for taking the time to advise me WillowCat. I've obviously only briefly outlined the advice I was given in regards to the contract but I'm now more aware of the situation in regards the contract and actually, I had forgotten what I'd written and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. I don't actually agree not to pursue him, just that we should deal with our debts separately.

That's excellent news - get the ball rolling as soon as possible. You will first need to attend a mediation meeting (you may be able to attend alone if there was DV). Then if this fails, court.

Even if you don't care about his other property, all assets and pensions are in the pot. You owe it to your children and to your family who helped fund the house by selling it undervalue to get your fair share.

BeingMe

Thanks Deanna. I'm sorry to hear you also received negligent advice.

I think what's bothering me on this thread is the assertion that I was somehow at fault for following the first solicitors advice or that I misunderstood or that it was just her opinion and therefore she wasn't negligent. I feel that I was fine to rely on a professionals advice (you just don't expect them to be wrong) and that actually what she did WAS negligent. As an absolute minimum she should have advised me to register my home rights (free to do) before I moved out. Not only did she tell me I had no right to the property but that I SHOULD move out and didn't even mention home rights (clearly as she wasn't thinking I had a case anyway). I have been told by more than one solicitor that this is negligent.

Valli

BeingMe wrote: »

I do intend to do something about the first solicitor - I will be complaining about her negligent advice.

Even without the lack of disclaimer I think you won't have a case, these interviews are referred to as 'initial interviews '. I think you need to PAY a solicitor properly to tell you whether you have a case.

Even I know that the initial starting point for a financial settlement is a 50/50 split. Whether you can bring a retrospective case I don't know.

Two separate issues here, if he cannot adequately care for the children when he has than that needs to be dealt with separately from the financial issue.

In addition everyone here is trying to help you, not just posters with whom you agree.

Rachel83

You should have been advised to stay in the family home for starters... The first solicitor didn't give you much in the way of advice, but if it was a diy divorce then I don't know if that would have been your responsibility to work out. They usually advise against a diy one if it's not a straightforward one, although if you have law experience you must know some of this. It's no doubt going to costly in trying to put right.

BeingMe

Thank you so much WillowCat. I feel really anxious about poking the hornets nest, I'm under no illusion that it will be difficult but it's got to be better than feeling the searing resentment that after everything I did and everything he put me though (and continues to do to me and the children) that I had nothing but emotional scarring to show for it. My contribution was essentially wiped out by the first set of advice.

I'll probably end up over at wikivorce at some point

Valli

BeingMe wrote: »

Thanks Deanna. I'm sorry to hear you also received negligent advice.

I think what's bothering me on this thread is the assertion that I was somehow at fault for following the first solicitors advice or that I misunderstood or that it was just her opinion and therefore she wasn't negligent. I feel that I was fine to rely on a professionals advice (you just don't expect them to be wrong) and that actually what she did WAS negligent. As an absolute minimum she should have advised me to register my home rights (free to do) before I moved out. Not only did she tell me I had no right to the property but that I SHOULD move out and didn't even mention home rights (clearly as she wasn't thinking I had a case anyway). I have been told by more than one solicitor that this is negligent.

You weren't at fault but one half hour with one solicitor is what you opted for, then you decided to go it alone. I doubt it was even phrased as advice, just as opinion.

Even now you appear to be looking for a cheap solution. There probably isn't one. You need a family law specialist to help you sort this.