ex's court order-what to do?

sanova76

Hi,

Need some advice please.
I'm not sure if this is right forum to post this.

I'm going through divorce at the moment. I'm in the process of getting absolute and consent order.

Ex has moved out from our marital home. I continue to live there with our son. The house is still under joint name. For some reasons he refuses to change his address and a court order came.

It says the bailiff will come and seize goods to pay his debt. The debt is in his name.

I'm really worried and wonder what is my position now? Obviously I won't pay his debt and let any goods taken from my house. I don't even want the bailiff to come to my house to start with!

Ex aware of the letter and he said because the house is still in joint name, I'm also liable to pay?!

Please advise.


Many thanks.

San

molerat

You are not liable for any debt solely in his name. A lot depends on who exactly is enforcing the debt and under what authority, the main point is not to open the door if they do turn up. You could contact the bailiffs and give them his address.

sourcrates

Hi,


What type of debt is it they are chasing here ?

Bailiffs cannot force entry to private property, unless they are chasing certain court fines, forced entry is a last resort, not a first responce, for any other debt, you can simply lock the door, and theres nothing they can do.

Explain through the letterbox or other appropriate orafice, that the ex no longer resides at this address, and that you will not allow them access as you do not want to be subject to threats of removal of goods etc.

It may be advantagous to put all this in writing to the bailiffs office as well as the court that instructed them.

Unless its a joint debt, then its nothing whatsoever to do with you, and you cannot be made liable for it, but if you do let them in, they can take goods to the value of the debt, and that would only be more hassle for you to deal with.

unforeseen

It is not your house, it is still the marital home and there are probably contents in there that are seizable unless you can prove that you bought them and not him.

sanova76

It's credit card debt.

There are nothing valuable to seize, all furniture in the house is over 10 years old. I'll ring the bailiff office on Monday and explain the situation. I don't have my ex's address, he moves around and won't give it to me.

worried_jim

sanova76 wrote: »

It's credit card debt.

There are nothing valuable to seize, all furniture in the house is over 10 years old. I'll ring the bailiff office on Monday and explain the situation. I don't have my ex's address, he moves around and won't give it to me.

Is it really from the court, or just a dca saying they "may" turn up?

sourcrates

sanova76 wrote: »

It's credit card debt.

There are nothing valuable to seize, all furniture in the house is over 10 years old. I'll ring the bailiff office on Monday and explain the situation. I don't have my ex's address, he moves around and won't give it to me.

worried_jim wrote: »

Is it really from the court, or just a dca saying they "may" turn up?

Best to write a letter, phoning a bailiff is never a good idea, as they always want money, and wont listen to what you have to say.


As Jim sayes, are you sure they are bailiffs and not some debt collector ??

sanova76

It's from the court. The letter says Notice of Issue of Warrant of Control. Has case number, warrant number, local number, and creditor's ref number.

It has the court address to make payment. Returned address is my local county court address.

sourcrates

sanova76 wrote: »

It's from the court. The letter says Notice of Issue of Warrant of Control. Has case number, warrant number, local number, and creditor's ref number.

It has the court address to make payment. Returned address is my local county court address.

Ok, so county court bailiffs are servants of the court, and are normally fairly reasonable to deal with, I think in your case its best to deny them entry altogether, it will save you a great deal of hassle.

fatbelly

unforeseen wrote: »

It is not your house.

Oh yes it is

sanova76 wrote: »

It's credit card debt.

There are nothing valuable to seize, all furniture in the house is over 10 years old. I'll ring the bailiff office on Monday and explain the situation. I don't have my ex's address, he moves around and won't give it to me.

As sourcrates says, it'll be the court bailiff. You're ok to phone though you can follow that up in writing if you like. The bailiff needs to know that (1) you won't be giving them access and (2) your ex has no goods at that address.