Advice needed re being ordered to pay a DD 16 June 2018 at 3:58AM in MoneySaving dads 2 replies 2.8K views

Wholewildeisonmine

Hello,not sure where to post this but need some advice.

3 months ago ex wife set up a direct debit to pay for something for son. This was never agreed- an email was sent by her with details of DD and the instruction to pay the money into her account to cover it.
This was unaffordable and never agreed and this was explained to son at the time.
3 months down the line ex is coming after the money and demanding the 'arrears' be paid and the rest of the DD instalments. She is threatening small claims court- can she do this? It just doesn't seem fair as it was never agreed.
Thanks

Savvy_Sue

Unless it's a court order I'd say the situation you describe is unenforceable.

however, I'm presuming Mum signed an agreement to pay for something which your DS has been doing, despite you saying you wouldn't pay for it. By the sound of it, you didn't sign an agreement for your DS to do this, so again, unenforceable against you - as long as you are divorced (I know you say ex-wife but sometimes people use this phrase before it's legally true).

Even if you're not divorced, if you have no financial commitments in common, unenforceable.

BUT: you say you explained this to your son. Did you also say 'no' to your ex?

TBagpuss

Do you have a financial order from your divorce? Unless there is an order which includes 'extras' then no, your ex simply telling you she wants money is not legally enforceable.

Did you tell her, when she contacted you, that you would not be able to make the payments she asked for?