complicated situation with partners ex wife

LovelyKatie11

My partner and I are currently saving for a house, however, there has been no clean break order put in place with his ex wife and she is still contacting him occasionally (via solicitors) regarding financial settlement.

Their marriage was an arranged one, her being Indian and my partner of Indian origin. They lived together at his parents and had no assets. She left him unannounced and nobody knows where she now lives. At the time of leaving my partner had loans, credit card debts and an overdraft.

As I said, we are now saving to buy a house, my partner having paid off his debts. We have saved over 10k between us so far. We want to make sure she has no way of putting a claim on any savings or property, but she is being very uncooperative with solicitors despite it being her who initially contacted my partner. My partner has provided his financial details several times without it moving any further forwards.

Can anyone give any advice on what the next step would be? Is it possible to send through a clean break order to her solicitors if she is still wanting some form of settlement but not being responsive?

McKneff

Financial settlement for what ?
Is this part of Indian culture.
I can't see for the life of me why she would think she is entitled to any money from him. What is his solicitor saying.
If not, tell her to get a job....

[Deleted User]

McKneff wrote: »

Financial settlement for what ?
Is this part of Indian culture.
I can't see for the life of me why she would think she is entitled to any money from him. What is his solicitor saying.
If not, tell her to get a job....

Thinking about the Sitcom where Al Bandy, tells his unborn child "Get a Job"!

Archergirl

Are there children, how long were they married?
I also can't see why she should have any rights to his money. Do get it sorted though before you buy a property.

lika_86

Assuming you both work then until he gets things finalised I'd use his salary to pay the rent and bills leaving yours to put towards a savings account in your sole name.

rpc

Assuming the divorce is being done in the UK...

If you want to keep anything out of the divorce proceedings, keep it out of his name.

Let him pay for *everything* while your income goes into your savings.

And he could push the divorce forward and submit the court applications. He doesn't have to wait for her. If there were genuinely no assets, go for a clean break on that basis.

TBagpuss

Your husband / his solicitor could draw up a clean break order and send it to her to sign, but she wouldn't have to, and a court would only approve it if she agrees it AND she and your husband both complete a D81 form summarising their financial positions.

If she doesn't cooperate then he should be able to apply through the court for a financial settlement. The court will order both of the them to provide disclosure and can, ultimately, make an order whether or not she cooperates. It is obviously a longer and more expensive process than if they are able to agree things.

Although it is unlikely that she would be entitled to anything if a court is making decision, it can sometimes be cost-effective to offer a small 'nuisance payment' to get things sorted - your husband should talk to his own solicitor about options. Bluntly, if it would cost him (say) £7-£10K to go through the court process then it might make sense to offer her £3-£5K to settle things now. He needs to take advice about how to make an offer to esure he can withdraw it if she doesn't play ball.