Bleeding me dry!

Flappersmkip

Hi,

 So I’m having a bit of a problem and reached out to see if anyone had any advice.

I have recently finalized a divorce that we ended up settling through a court. This has been a very hard endeavor as the greed took over what could have been an amicable settlement. Anyway, in the end I paid him £55k and court costs and also took on the children’s private school fees.

He asked for half of the “marital” debts to be settled but the judge felt that he was asking too much of me and said no. We settled that he would pay for the debts he has and I would pay for the debts that I have. I have been paying outstanding council tax bills and gas and electricity bills. He refused to pay his half of the debt and when the bailiffs came to the door I had to pay it all. During this process he has also had a bailiffs letter and his solicitor asked me to pay half. I stated that he didn’t help me to pay my bill so I was not inclined to help him pay his.

Fast forward to court and we finalized that he would take care of his debt and I would take care of mine. We signed and indemnified it. Fast forward a few months after he has been paid and I have had a bailiffs letter to my house for the debt he wanted half of. I have spoken to my solicitor but he tells me that because the name is in both of ours I’m still responsible for the debt.

 I’m struggling with the injustice of all of this. I have paid him £55k, I have paid the other debts with no help, I pay the private school fees and I receive no child maintenance because he isn’t working. Do I really have to keep paying his debts? When does it stop? I was struggling financially before but now it seems impossible.

Any advice at all would be ggreat.Thank you.

Elizabeth. 

Grumpelstiltskin

Joint debts are not split half and half, you are both equally liable for the debt and if one party doesn't pay then yes the other one will be chased.

It des look to be a complete mess and you needed good advice long ago before you agreed to anything.

Flappersmkip

So what do I do?

MattMattMattUK

Flappersmkip said:

So what do I do?

Go back to court to enforce the divorce settlement and get the money you had to pay out from him. Through thr question is does he have the means to pay.

sourcrates

Flappersmkip said:

So what do I do?

Well you need to know your rights in these matters, it helps when you know what a bailiff can and cannot do.

Never allow a bailiff entry to your home, number one rule, they have no authority to enter private property.

If this is council tax, as mentioned above, your are both jointly and severely liable for it, the council will be attempting to collect this via a liability order, hence the bailiffs, (edited by sourcrates).

My suggestion would be to contact your council, explain the complex situation, and try and get them to take back the account, and agree an affordable payment plan with them, a council tax debt is not going to go away unfortunately.

You may also want to suggest to them that they chase your ex for this as well.

fatbelly

I wish that were true Sourcrates but councils are well known for employing the most aggressive bailiffs, as council tax is not county court.

Same advice applies though. Keep doors locked, cars parked elsewhere (it's not as if they have a registration number to look for) and wait for them to send it back to the council

Emmia

How much is the debt? vs How much do you want to be free of this?

sourcrates

fatbelly said:

I wish that were true Sourcrates but councils are well known for employing the most aggressive bailiffs, as council tax is not county court.

Same advice applies though. Keep doors locked, cars parked elsewhere (it's not as if they have a registration number to look for) and wait for them to send it back to the council

I don`t know why I posted that fatbelly, I know darn well its not a county court bailiff, must of been thinking of another thread, whilst posting on this one, never could multitask, apologies OP.

Have edited my previous.

Sncjw

Can he afford to pay it. You say he doesn't work and you don't get child maintenance. So if he can't do that how can he pay the debt?