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Solicitor Dispute in Divorce
paraza
Posts: 68 Forumite
I don't know if this is the right place to post and if it isn't please can someone point me in the right direction? Thank you
I am currently going through a divorce. My solicitor switched companies part way through the divorce process and I agreed to move with him. I was asked to pay my invoice in full so I could transfer over with him. This was done. However a couple of weeks later I was sent a new invoice for an additional amount by the old law firm. This was queried by me as I had understood the previous paid invoice to be the full and final amount. I have disputed this with the previous law firm. My solicitor confirmed by email to me he had been advised by the previous law firm that the final invoice had been paid too. The previous law firm then handed over this amount of the disputed invoice to be chased by another law firm. When they chased me for the disputed amount I asked to respond by Mon 17th Dec because I was involved in my final hearing at court (which was a very time consuming and exhausting process) I had no response until last Thursday (Dec 12th) to my email (which had been sent Mon 3rd Dec) They said it was too late, they had given me enough time to respond and they had issued court proceedings. Yesterday I received the court summons. I would like to defend this. From what I understand this is an estoppel, whereby the old law firm couldn't invoice for a further amount when it already been confirmed the previous invoice was the full and final amount? I would be incredibly grateful for any help on how to do this.
Thank you very much
I am currently going through a divorce. My solicitor switched companies part way through the divorce process and I agreed to move with him. I was asked to pay my invoice in full so I could transfer over with him. This was done. However a couple of weeks later I was sent a new invoice for an additional amount by the old law firm. This was queried by me as I had understood the previous paid invoice to be the full and final amount. I have disputed this with the previous law firm. My solicitor confirmed by email to me he had been advised by the previous law firm that the final invoice had been paid too. The previous law firm then handed over this amount of the disputed invoice to be chased by another law firm. When they chased me for the disputed amount I asked to respond by Mon 17th Dec because I was involved in my final hearing at court (which was a very time consuming and exhausting process) I had no response until last Thursday (Dec 12th) to my email (which had been sent Mon 3rd Dec) They said it was too late, they had given me enough time to respond and they had issued court proceedings. Yesterday I received the court summons. I would like to defend this. From what I understand this is an estoppel, whereby the old law firm couldn't invoice for a further amount when it already been confirmed the previous invoice was the full and final amount? I would be incredibly grateful for any help on how to do this.
Thank you very much
0
Comments
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Nope. sorry, you owe it; pay it.
Given it's small claims, just pay up now and move on. (don't get a CCJ over this)0 -
Bad advice. Would you pay the same bill twice?
Oh here we go...
It's not the same bill. It's extra.
please do furnish the OP with your wisdom.
Here's mine:
Estoppel does not apply to this kind of thing, the timeframe is too short, the OP was given ample time to pay and there was never a period where this amount was in question.
They have 6 years to pursue the debt. They've chosen to be efficient. (frankly it sounds like the OP should've stayed with that firm)0 -
Oh here we go...
It's not the same bill. It's extra.
please do furnish the OP with your wisdom.
Here's mine:
Estoppel does not apply to this kind of thing, the timeframe is too short, the OP was given ample time to pay and there was never a period where this amount was in question.
They have 6 years to pursue the debt. They've chosen to be efficient. (frankly it sounds like the OP should've stayed with that firm)
How can it be extra when the OP was told by his solicitor that the invoice he paid was the final invoice? If there were any earlier unpaid invoices these would have been added to the final invoice.0 -
...because mistakes happen.
We haven't seen the claim form so we don't know that the solicitors are claiming they made a mistake. All we know is that the OP is claiming that he was discharged from the contract by the agreement of his solicitor on payment of the final invoice and the contract therefore came to an end when the final amount was paid.0 -
We haven't seen the claim form so we don't know that the solicitors are claiming they made a mistake. All we know is that the OP is claiming that he was discharged from the contract by the agreement of his solicitor on payment of the final invoice and the contract therefore came to an end when the final amount was paid.
OP ignore this 'advice' it has no basis in law.
The culmination of a contract does not thereafter prevent collection of outstanding monies.0 -
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Nope. sorry, you owe it; pay it.
Given it's small claims, just pay up now and move on. (don't get a CCJ over this)
I agree with pphillips. While it might be a valid bill there's nothing to confirm this in the OP. It's entirely possible it's an extra charge they've forgotten to bill for but it's also entirely possible they've made a mistake and this extra amount shouldn't have been invoiced. Either way they've made a mistake.
Paraza, when you asked the old law firm what this extra charge is for what did they say? Ultimately if you owe this money it needs to be paid, however it's worth questioning.
Also don't ignore them, this won't go away. It leads to issues such a court summons, as you've experienced.0
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