Divorce petition received...need advice

Nohopeharry

Hi all, hope you can help...

Background...my sister and her husband married in Aug 2012, rented a house, both worked full time, no children, but accumulated credit card debt. She walked out in Jan 2014, leaving him in the rented house, whilst she moved back in with her parents, after a period of complete absence. There was no communication during this time between the two, and after about 2 months her husband met someone else, moved out of the rented house and moved in with his new lady. No communication since then.

My sister has now received a divorce petition form from him. What we are concerned about is what he has asked for...he has ticked boxes for everything. I have uploaded a picture here http://imgur.com/mZXi0uV to show what he is asking. Surely this isn't right? We were hoping to send the form back without the need to go to a solicitor, but we are unsure of what to do next now. My sister is on disability benefits, lives in a council flat, no other income/savings and has a ton of debt. Do we send the husband a letter explaining that she can't afford any maintenance or would you advise us to get a solicitor involved?

Any advice is much appreciated!
Thank you

*max*

I would completely ignore everything about owing him money. It was a short marriage, they don't have any assets (that were disclosed here anyway), they will leave the marriage as they were before it. Put any thoughts of maintenance out your heads now. It only happens in rare cases if one of the parties is very, very wealthy indeed, and the marriage was a long one. It does not concern you.

The only thing of concern is the debt, as it may be joint, and she could be tied to half of it (as could he, if the debt was accumulated during the marriage).

No need for a solicitor at all. Just visit your local CAB. It should be a very straightforward divorce.

Jenniefour

Looks like a chancer who's ticked every box in the hopes that your sister will cough up some money. Or to be awkward. Sister needs advice on how to deal with any joint debts they have, which might include her share of the house rent after she left, unless she's already paid it. Just being married and/or living in the same property does not mean that one person somehow becomes liable for individual debt of the other.

TBagpuss

Don't panic. It is absolutely bog-standard and doesn't mean he is actually going to seek any (or all) f those things.

The boxes on the petition are not an application. They are leaving it open to him (or your sister) to *make* an application at a later stage (including an application for a clean break dismissing any financial claims) .

If he actually wants to make a claim against her he would issue a Form A, http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/GetForm.do?court_forms_id=2655

At this stage, the only thing she'd need to worry about would be if he had ticked the box to say he wanted to claim costs from her, and he hasn't, so she should just fill in the acknowlegment of service form and send it back to the court.

It's alsways a good idea to have a financial order, even if it is simply for a clean break, but if they don't either of them have any assets then it may be that neither of them wants to incur the costs of getting one drawn up.

If he does seek to make any claims against her then a court has to look at what is fair and reasonable, taking into account all the circumstances including their current financial positions and needs; as she doesn't have any assets, she's not got anything to lose. (the court has no power to reassign debts)

pimento

If he's met another woman and wants to marry her, your sister holds all the cards.

jackieblack

TBagpuss wrote: »

Don't panic. It is absolutely bog-standard and doesn't mean he is actually going to seek any (or all) f those things.

The boxes on the petition are not an application. They are leaving it open to him (or your sister) to *make* an application at a later stage (including an application for a clean break dismissing any financial claims) .

If he actually wants to make a claim against her he would issue a Form A, http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/GetForm.do?court_forms_id=2655

At this stage, the only thing she'd need to worry about would be if he had ticked the box to say he wanted to claim costs from her, and he hasn't, so she should just fill in the acknowlegment of service form and send it back to the court.

It's alsways a good idea to have a financial order, even if it is simply for a clean break, but if they don't either of them have any assets then it may be that neither of them wants to incur the costs of getting one drawn up.

If he does seek to make any claims against her then a court has to look at what is fair and reasonable, taking into account all the circumstances including their current financial positions and needs; as she doesn't have any assets, she's not got anything to lose. (the court has no power to reassign debts)

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

CP26

Totally agree with Tbagpuss. When I completed my petition I was told to tick all the boxes in case I ever did want apply for one of those orders in the future. I was told that if I didnt tick them now it would be more complicated later down the line if I wanted to apply.

gingercordial

Agreed - I think I had a similar panic when I received that same form from ex-husband's solicitors, but it is all standard at this stage. We had already agreed to have a clean break agreement.

Tigsteroonie

Another one to support what TBagpuss said - it's absolutely standard to tick all the boxes on the petition.