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Are these answers enough for FDR in divorce?
scrooge786
Posts: 72 Forumite
Hi I am in the process of financial proceedings in divorce, have had one hearing already and I have a list of questions based on my Form E which need to be answered by 9th December, and the First Directions Resolution is on 25th January. I have gone through and drafted the answers, I would really appreciate if you guys could tell me whether these are sufficient or do i pay a solicitor to re-do them? (i have been quoted £1,000 to re-do them)
I did have a sol for the Financial proceedings for negotiations and the First Appointment. I wasn't too happy with the work carried out by my new sol as the other one found another job halfway through so i have now looked into trying to possibly become a litigant in person with a barrister for the hearing and maybe using a sol on an adhoc basis, but if i can do it myself I would prefer that.
The first part is my answers and then his questions to me. I have also added in at the end the questions my sol has put to him.
Thank you so much in advance.
ANSWERS
2.3 The attached bank statements for the period September 2013 to September 2015 for my sole current account show that the source of the £15,000 that I transferred into my other accounts within the same bank, evidence of which is also visible on the same statements is the result of a combination of child benefits, child tax credits, working tax credits and any income I received within that period, which after using the maintenance payments I received from Respondent and meeting any shortfall with the benefits and income I received to fund mine and my children's living costs, after which any money that was left over that accumulated over the above period was then kept as savings in my other accounts.
Which at the time of September 2015 stood at £15000, I then withdrew this from my account as my son had become a victim of online fraud, which worried me and so I decided to place the money in a security deposit box.
Some of which was spent and when the Form E was completed and exchanged in May 2016, the remaining amount i.e. £9000 was correctly declared on the Form E as was required legally, and not undisclosed as the Respondent alleges.
2.20 As per starting point for negotiations in financial matters within divorce proceedings my interest was half of the FMH as was Respondents, which was due to change as a result of differences in income and needs between the two.
2.7 It is unclear which security deposit the Respondent is referring to but if the Respondent is referring to the £9000 placed in the security deposit box at as shown on the form E? Then the proof that, that money was solely as a result of a combination of benefits and income received by me has already been provided in the form of bank statements.
3.1 Respondent did fail to transfer enough funds for the mortgage payment to go out for the month of June which is when I deposited the required funds into the joint bank account, proof of which has been provided in the form of a bank statement for that month, although he did then deposit the monies into the joint account after the payment date.
3.1.1 Up to date I have had to make use of the savings I held in the security deposit box to meet mine and my children's income needs, alongside reducing or eliminating any needs which we could no longer afford to meet. As for the £600 a month spent on food then that was !base!d on the month prior to which the Form E had been completed, and as per the bank statement over £500 was spent on groceries and the rest was spent at farmers market where unfortunately they only accept cash payments and not card, (these purchases have now had to stop as I can no longer afford it).
On the other hand Respondents bank statements do not reflect his £350 spent on food as he claims on his Form E throughout the whole of the 12 months prior to the exchange of Form E’s, in fact there are only 2 occasions in which he has a purchase at a grocery store.
3.2.1 The cost price of £490,000 for a 3 bed house was given as an example of the current housing market within a mile of the FMH to reflect how much it would cost to rehouse us and keep us close to where we are currently living.
4.1.1 Tax return for the requested period has been enclosed.
4.3 The money gifted to me was in the region of a total of £20,000, half of which was given when we purchased the FMH. This was solely my inheritance which my mother had calculated !base!d on the Islamic rules of inheritance, at the time of valuation of her sole property, and not as the Respondent stated a gift for the “both” of us, as we had already been married for roughly four years, therefore it could not have been considered to be a marriage gift. Please note we had not received any form of gifts or inheritance from his parents.
Respondents Questions to Applicant
2.3 Could the Applicant explain the source of £15,000 on 11/09/2015 as available in her Barclays bank account? Later on she transferred this money to her other accounts. The applicant has failed to declare this sum in her Form E. The applicant is requested to provide the relative bank statements with her response.
2.20 Could the applicant confirm that her interest in the MH amounts to £188,000 as declared by herself.
2.7 The security deposit of £9000 was given by the Respondent to the Applicant. If the applicant claims that its her exclusive earning, she is put to strict proof of the same.
3.1 It is fundamentally incorrect that Respondent has seized paying mortgage and maintenance. He has never stopped paying since 2009, when he left the MH. He would always deposit on average £850 a month. If the A disputes this she is put to strict proof. In the alternative we will prove that he is paying mortgage without any break, from the day one of the purchase of MH, which was purchased in 2001.
3.1.1 The applicant incomes needs are more than her income; kindly explain how she is filling the gap to meet her expenses. The applicant is also requested to justify monthly consumption of £600 of account of food for herself and daughter because it is not reflected in her bank statements.
3.2.1 Is it the applicants intention to buy a 3 bedrooms property for £490,000 and to sell the 3 bedrooms MH for £475,000.
4.1.1 May we request a tax return for 2013/ 14. This is required to assess if the applicants income has reduced.
4.3 May we request the A to clarify whether her mother’s marriage gift was £10,000 or £15,000? Was this gift solely for her or both of them?
APPLICANTS QUESTIONNAIRE AND REQUEST
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Section 1
1. Respondent stated in his Form E that he is paying child maintenance voluntarily, however these had stopped in April 2016. Please can the Respondent provide evidence by way of bank statements or other documentary evidence to show child maintenance payments made after this date.
Section 2
2. In respect of the valuation for FMH, could the Respondent please provide a valuation as evidence of the current market value being estimated at £450,000 as stated in his Form E.
3. In respect of the estimated cost of sale of FMH, could the Respondent please explain as to how he believes the cost will be £5,000.
4. Could the Respondent please clarify whether the total value of his interest in the family home as stated in his Form E is a typographical error as it states his share is £1,827,500.00.
5. In respect of the overdrawn balance on the Respondents Barclays bank account of -£3,988.00, could the Respondent please explain how bank account is has become overdrawn. Please provide a complete breakdown of the reasons/amounts the Respondent’s bank account is overdrawn.
6. In respect of his Aviva Life Insurance, could the Respondent please provide full details of this policy as requested within the Form E page 7 and the surrender value.
7. In respect to the vehicle mentioned in question 2.8, could the Respondent please provide documentary evidence of the hire purchase agreement. Could the Respondent further explain whether he is permitted under the agreement to sell the car, and if sold for an amount higher than that payable under the hire purchase agreement, would the Respondent receive the difference.
8. Could the Respondent please explain how he has incurred a huge balance on his Barclays Credit Card.
9. In respect of the private loan for £10,000, kindly provide documentary evidence of this loan and also explain when the loan was drawn down, why it was drawn down with a complete breakdown of what the funds were used toward, and how is this loan repayable.
10. In respect of pensions, kindly clarify whether the Respondent does have any pension plans in place, and if so please provide documentary evidence of how much any pension is worth.
11. Could the Respondent explain with documentary evidence how he has calculated his income from Uber to be £4178 whereas from his Barclays bank statements between May 2015 and May 2016 the Respondent received a total of £25,522.69 from Uber in the statements disclosed with his Form E.
12. In respect of his income for the next 12 months, could the Respondent please explain why he believes there will be such a huge reduction in his income from Uber from £25,522.69 between May 2015 to May 2016 to a total of £4178.
13. In respect of losses in business whilst working as a House Removal Driver, could the Respondent please provide documentary evidence of the losses and also explain the losses in detail.
Section 3
14. In respect of expenses, could the Respondent please explain why he anticipates his rent will increase from £530 to £700.
Section 4
15. In respect of the increase in his income, could the Respondent please explain how much he estimates his income to increase by and when.
16. In terms of the £100,000 claimed by the Respondent as being paid by him, could the Respondent please explain what he has paid this towards, since when and provide a complete breakdown of this amount. (Respondent has been making payments of £1400 per month for the past two years and prior to that £1600 per month, even at the lesser amount of £1400, the total annual amount on average would be £16,800 which does not match the annual income of the respondent. Taking into account if his income remained at around £4,000 per annum previous to 2015 then how did he make up the difference? If he claims to have borrowed the money to make up the difference, then his total debt should be much higher.)
17. The child maintenance paid voluntarily by the Respondent is no longer being paid since April 2016, if the Respondent is claiming that he is still paying the maintenance, please provide evidence of this. Since April 2016, the Applicant has received no money from the Respondent.
18. Please provide evidence that eldest child will be moving in with the Respondent, and provide dates as to when this is expected to take place.
Other
19. Could the Respondent please provide evidence of his land/plots in his homeland, proof of ownership and their current valuation. Could the Respondent also provide details of any land/assets in his homeland he intends to inherit if not already inherited.
I did have a sol for the Financial proceedings for negotiations and the First Appointment. I wasn't too happy with the work carried out by my new sol as the other one found another job halfway through so i have now looked into trying to possibly become a litigant in person with a barrister for the hearing and maybe using a sol on an adhoc basis, but if i can do it myself I would prefer that.
The first part is my answers and then his questions to me. I have also added in at the end the questions my sol has put to him.
Thank you so much in advance.
ANSWERS
2.3 The attached bank statements for the period September 2013 to September 2015 for my sole current account show that the source of the £15,000 that I transferred into my other accounts within the same bank, evidence of which is also visible on the same statements is the result of a combination of child benefits, child tax credits, working tax credits and any income I received within that period, which after using the maintenance payments I received from Respondent and meeting any shortfall with the benefits and income I received to fund mine and my children's living costs, after which any money that was left over that accumulated over the above period was then kept as savings in my other accounts.
Which at the time of September 2015 stood at £15000, I then withdrew this from my account as my son had become a victim of online fraud, which worried me and so I decided to place the money in a security deposit box.
Some of which was spent and when the Form E was completed and exchanged in May 2016, the remaining amount i.e. £9000 was correctly declared on the Form E as was required legally, and not undisclosed as the Respondent alleges.
2.20 As per starting point for negotiations in financial matters within divorce proceedings my interest was half of the FMH as was Respondents, which was due to change as a result of differences in income and needs between the two.
2.7 It is unclear which security deposit the Respondent is referring to but if the Respondent is referring to the £9000 placed in the security deposit box at as shown on the form E? Then the proof that, that money was solely as a result of a combination of benefits and income received by me has already been provided in the form of bank statements.
3.1 Respondent did fail to transfer enough funds for the mortgage payment to go out for the month of June which is when I deposited the required funds into the joint bank account, proof of which has been provided in the form of a bank statement for that month, although he did then deposit the monies into the joint account after the payment date.
3.1.1 Up to date I have had to make use of the savings I held in the security deposit box to meet mine and my children's income needs, alongside reducing or eliminating any needs which we could no longer afford to meet. As for the £600 a month spent on food then that was !base!d on the month prior to which the Form E had been completed, and as per the bank statement over £500 was spent on groceries and the rest was spent at farmers market where unfortunately they only accept cash payments and not card, (these purchases have now had to stop as I can no longer afford it).
On the other hand Respondents bank statements do not reflect his £350 spent on food as he claims on his Form E throughout the whole of the 12 months prior to the exchange of Form E’s, in fact there are only 2 occasions in which he has a purchase at a grocery store.
3.2.1 The cost price of £490,000 for a 3 bed house was given as an example of the current housing market within a mile of the FMH to reflect how much it would cost to rehouse us and keep us close to where we are currently living.
4.1.1 Tax return for the requested period has been enclosed.
4.3 The money gifted to me was in the region of a total of £20,000, half of which was given when we purchased the FMH. This was solely my inheritance which my mother had calculated !base!d on the Islamic rules of inheritance, at the time of valuation of her sole property, and not as the Respondent stated a gift for the “both” of us, as we had already been married for roughly four years, therefore it could not have been considered to be a marriage gift. Please note we had not received any form of gifts or inheritance from his parents.
Respondents Questions to Applicant
2.3 Could the Applicant explain the source of £15,000 on 11/09/2015 as available in her Barclays bank account? Later on she transferred this money to her other accounts. The applicant has failed to declare this sum in her Form E. The applicant is requested to provide the relative bank statements with her response.
2.20 Could the applicant confirm that her interest in the MH amounts to £188,000 as declared by herself.
2.7 The security deposit of £9000 was given by the Respondent to the Applicant. If the applicant claims that its her exclusive earning, she is put to strict proof of the same.
3.1 It is fundamentally incorrect that Respondent has seized paying mortgage and maintenance. He has never stopped paying since 2009, when he left the MH. He would always deposit on average £850 a month. If the A disputes this she is put to strict proof. In the alternative we will prove that he is paying mortgage without any break, from the day one of the purchase of MH, which was purchased in 2001.
3.1.1 The applicant incomes needs are more than her income; kindly explain how she is filling the gap to meet her expenses. The applicant is also requested to justify monthly consumption of £600 of account of food for herself and daughter because it is not reflected in her bank statements.
3.2.1 Is it the applicants intention to buy a 3 bedrooms property for £490,000 and to sell the 3 bedrooms MH for £475,000.
4.1.1 May we request a tax return for 2013/ 14. This is required to assess if the applicants income has reduced.
4.3 May we request the A to clarify whether her mother’s marriage gift was £10,000 or £15,000? Was this gift solely for her or both of them?
APPLICANTS QUESTIONNAIRE AND REQUEST
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Section 1
1. Respondent stated in his Form E that he is paying child maintenance voluntarily, however these had stopped in April 2016. Please can the Respondent provide evidence by way of bank statements or other documentary evidence to show child maintenance payments made after this date.
Section 2
2. In respect of the valuation for FMH, could the Respondent please provide a valuation as evidence of the current market value being estimated at £450,000 as stated in his Form E.
3. In respect of the estimated cost of sale of FMH, could the Respondent please explain as to how he believes the cost will be £5,000.
4. Could the Respondent please clarify whether the total value of his interest in the family home as stated in his Form E is a typographical error as it states his share is £1,827,500.00.
5. In respect of the overdrawn balance on the Respondents Barclays bank account of -£3,988.00, could the Respondent please explain how bank account is has become overdrawn. Please provide a complete breakdown of the reasons/amounts the Respondent’s bank account is overdrawn.
6. In respect of his Aviva Life Insurance, could the Respondent please provide full details of this policy as requested within the Form E page 7 and the surrender value.
7. In respect to the vehicle mentioned in question 2.8, could the Respondent please provide documentary evidence of the hire purchase agreement. Could the Respondent further explain whether he is permitted under the agreement to sell the car, and if sold for an amount higher than that payable under the hire purchase agreement, would the Respondent receive the difference.
8. Could the Respondent please explain how he has incurred a huge balance on his Barclays Credit Card.
9. In respect of the private loan for £10,000, kindly provide documentary evidence of this loan and also explain when the loan was drawn down, why it was drawn down with a complete breakdown of what the funds were used toward, and how is this loan repayable.
10. In respect of pensions, kindly clarify whether the Respondent does have any pension plans in place, and if so please provide documentary evidence of how much any pension is worth.
11. Could the Respondent explain with documentary evidence how he has calculated his income from Uber to be £4178 whereas from his Barclays bank statements between May 2015 and May 2016 the Respondent received a total of £25,522.69 from Uber in the statements disclosed with his Form E.
12. In respect of his income for the next 12 months, could the Respondent please explain why he believes there will be such a huge reduction in his income from Uber from £25,522.69 between May 2015 to May 2016 to a total of £4178.
13. In respect of losses in business whilst working as a House Removal Driver, could the Respondent please provide documentary evidence of the losses and also explain the losses in detail.
Section 3
14. In respect of expenses, could the Respondent please explain why he anticipates his rent will increase from £530 to £700.
Section 4
15. In respect of the increase in his income, could the Respondent please explain how much he estimates his income to increase by and when.
16. In terms of the £100,000 claimed by the Respondent as being paid by him, could the Respondent please explain what he has paid this towards, since when and provide a complete breakdown of this amount. (Respondent has been making payments of £1400 per month for the past two years and prior to that £1600 per month, even at the lesser amount of £1400, the total annual amount on average would be £16,800 which does not match the annual income of the respondent. Taking into account if his income remained at around £4,000 per annum previous to 2015 then how did he make up the difference? If he claims to have borrowed the money to make up the difference, then his total debt should be much higher.)
17. The child maintenance paid voluntarily by the Respondent is no longer being paid since April 2016, if the Respondent is claiming that he is still paying the maintenance, please provide evidence of this. Since April 2016, the Applicant has received no money from the Respondent.
18. Please provide evidence that eldest child will be moving in with the Respondent, and provide dates as to when this is expected to take place.
Other
19. Could the Respondent please provide evidence of his land/plots in his homeland, proof of ownership and their current valuation. Could the Respondent also provide details of any land/assets in his homeland he intends to inherit if not already inherited.
0
Comments
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Sorry, when I saw FDR I thought of the WW2 US President!I used to work for Tesco - now retired - speciality Clubcard0
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I think this is far too complex an issue for this forum - you really need to see a solicitor.0
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£1,000 seems like a lot of money but will this solicitor be coming in blind and have to review all the papers before drafting the response to questions? It is best if you seek some sort of legal advice. There are barristers that offer direct access from the public and you pay on a adhoc basis but bearing in mind they do but not always charge more than a solicitor would.
Does the other side have legal representation?0 -
I can appreciate it is probably too complex but I was hoping that someone who has had experience of this in the past would be able to let me know if the answers are sufficient.
0 -
@athensgeorgia it is actually my old solicitor who I managed to track down thanks to Google at her new firm, that quoted that amount. She does have background knowledge of my case and said it would not take more than 3 hours at a rate of £250+ vat for her to re-do them and that was before she saw the answers.
Which is why I was a bit confused why it would take so long to do if all that needs to be done is quite simply answer the questions?
Yes the other side has had legal representation from the start, I on the other hand instructed a solicitor after I received the Decree nisi because I understood that it was a legal necessity.0 -
It's not a legal necessity to have a solicitor for the financial proceedings but, given the complexity of the questions and answers above, it might be advisable. I was litigant-in-person, my Ex used a Barrister, I came out laughing as the Judge dismissed all the minor issues and ruled on the basis of one major issue in my favour
I did feel very intimidated by the Barrister though (and I'm not a wall-flower)
The Wikivorce website and forum are great. Have you found it yet? That's the kind of forum where you could post the above and get some very good answers (though Duchy and TBagpuss on here are fantastic too).:heartpuls Mrs Marleyboy :heartpuls
MSE: many of the benefits of a helpful family, without disadvantages like having to compete for the tv remote Proud Parents to an Aut-some son 0 -
Yep i since learned that its not a necessity as many people do go all the way totally on their own.
Do you think the questions from the respondent to me are complex? I thought they weren't too bad, or am i being naive?
i was hoping i could save money by doing most of the running around and paperwork myself but have a barrister to represent me and to possibly do the position statement again before the FDR and anything else. I dont think i could hack speaking up in court especially against his barrister, you on the other hand were very brave.
Yep ive been on Wikivorce it is really good but not really had substantial answers yet.
I was looking for a template of some sort also.0 -
scrooge786 wrote: »@athensgeorgia it is actually my old solicitor who I managed to track down thanks to Google at her new firm, that quoted that amount. She does have background knowledge of my case and said it would not take more than 3 hours at a rate of £250+ vat for her to re-do them and that was before she saw the answers.
Which is why I was a bit confused why it would take so long to do if all that needs to be done is quite simply answer the questions?
Have you considered ringing around a few family solicitors in your area and asking them how much they would charge? Or even asking your previous solicitor to do it on an agreed fee basis? Agreed fee can swing either way. It either takes her hours and hours to do it or she has it done in a lot less time than expected and you've paid over the odds for it. It may be that she'll need time to double check questions and answers, just because the other side has asked a question it may already have been answered or the information already provided with the Form E and it just needs crosschecking.
Are you likely to settle at FDR or before the final hearing? It may be worth thinking about what your next steps would be should it continue that far. Can you afford to pay for representation bearing in mind barristers can charge anything from £2k and up. I've seen a final hearing by a barrister charged at £14k for the first day and £3k per day retainer. Luckily it settled on the first day. This is before VAT btw.
By the looks of your info so far it looks like the valuation of the FMH is not agreed and it's possible the judge will order a valuation by an independent expert which the parties usually split the cost of. This is another thing to think about should you be worrying about costs.
It may be worth having the guidance of a solicitor now.0
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