Can i complain?

Mojisola

KMK wrote: »

My brother and I are willing to pay her costs, as she is unable to do so, and I sent her a private "heads up" email to tell her this, along with some advice about what could help her case in court.

My brother- in -law read it, then forwarded this private email to his solicitor claiming that I was "intimidating" him by offering to pay her court costs.

You can't intimidate one person by sending a third party a private email.

KMK

My sister is in her 60s and not au fait with technology so perhaps she has been naive in thinking that a private family communication should not be accessed,copied and shared with others, without her knowledge.

So she is "to blame" if others knowingly access and use a personal email to their advantage?Doesn't decency and integrity have any part in this? Are solicitors not held to a higher standard than the rest of us?

Nicki

The solicitor’s first duty is to the court and their second duty is to their client. If their client provided them with relevant evidence in a dispute, they are obligated to use this provided it was not illegally obtained (which it was not in this case).

You’re focusing on the wrong thing at the moment which is understandable as you are embarrassed and upset. You need though to accept that this email has now become public and may be used and start thinking about how that impacts your sister’s strategy in continuing to contest the proposed settlement

Pollycat

Obviously you've not shared the contents of the email you sent but I'd say that offering to pay a sibling's legal fees doesn't sound like intimidation against her soon-to-be-ex partner.


If anything, this sounds like intimidation.

KMK wrote: »

She has been offered a very poor settlement by her husband on a "settle or I go to court" notification.

Has your sister's solicitor said anything about the letter from the other solicitor?

jamiehelsinki

How long were they married if it’s long term she should be looking to get 50%, if a short marriage then she might get less or more depending on where the money come from.

Speaking as someone who’s divorce got as far as court it’s expensive between the 2 sides the legal bills were around 20k.
From what I remember I paid a barrister about 2000 for court appearances alone and she was no where near the most expensive.

Mojisola

KMK wrote: »

My sister is going though a difficult divorce, especially with the financial settlement.

KMK wrote: »

My sister is in her 60s and not au fait with technology so perhaps she has been naive in thinking that a private family communication should not be accessed,copied and shared with others, without her knowledge.

She has been naive in not realising that the husband who is making the divorce difficult wouldn't use any method to win.

I hope she has changed all her passwords - as 74jax recommended.

jamiehelsinki

If he’s got proof your paying her legal fees he’s probably going to use this as an argument in the overall split of assets.

She can’t really claim she needs to pay x for legal fees on her court financial disclosure form if he’s got proof your paying them.

When it comes to divorce give as little written information as possible.

Gavin83

KMK wrote: »

My sister is going though a difficult divorce, especially with the financial settlement.She has been offered a very poor settlement by her husband on a "settle or I go to court" notification.

What settlement has he offered?

KMK wrote: »

Can a solicitor,in the full knowledge that a private communication/letter has been intercepted by their client, read it, copy it and send it on to a 3rd party? if not,what can I do to complain?

Accept it's not private communication, she knowingly gave him access to her email account. I agree with the others, you're focusing on the wrong thing here.

What exactly did you put in the email? A solicitor certainly wouldn't consider you offering to pay her fees as intimidation so I can't help but feel we aren't being told the whole story here.

unholyangel

If things are exactly as you have said (just you offering to pay her legal costs) then I think I'd be tempted to point out that if helping out a close family member in a time of need is intimidating, then pity the fool that has made it known they've been accessing & reading messages sent to another individual that were clearly intended to be private.

In fact, it could even be an offence under the Computer Misuse Act.

ska_lover

I think you have all been naive to be honest

Never ever say anything in writing, that you do not want passing on to another person. Not even on here

What is your sisters solicitors, stance on here?