Question about Statement of Info form for Divorce

[Deleted User] · 7 March 2019 at 11:40AM

I'm helping my cousin with his Statement of Information D81 form. He & his wife have agreed to sell the family house, and have agreed on amounts each will receive. So it's just a case of having it approved in court.

My cousin filled in this form but he's not sure about the following - (I have looked for guidance notes for this form but can't find any online) so would be grateful for any pointers. He can ask the solicitor but the bill is quite large already.

Section 7f. Pensions Valuation - he's got his CETV figures for his private pension but the form asks for "Including the Additional State Pension (Cash equivalent)." Question: what is an ADDITIONAL State Pension as opposed to a State Pension? And where would he find this Cash equiv value?

Section 8. Income - this asks for net income (after tax/NI deducted). My cousin has a franchise, and so he has fixed fees, office rent etc which have to come out of his income before he can spend/save. His wife is employed so her net income is for her to spend/save. So he looks like he has a lot more net income than her, but a good proportion of it goes on franchise costs, marketing etc. There's nowhere on the form that asks for employment status & nowhere to make a note alongside the figures. What's the best way to show this? Or does it not really matter, given they have agreed settlements?

Lastly he knows his wife is not being truthful in Section 11 - ie she IS co-habiting and intends to co-habit in the future. However, presumably that's up to her & her conscience if she wants to sign the Statement of Truth section. He doesn't want to call her out on this - he just wants to move on with his life.

Thanks for any thoughts on this. Also apologies if this is in the wrong section.

badmemory · 7 March 2019 at 2:34PM

I'm sure someone will be along soon to correct me but -

Section 7f Unless his state pension is already calculated to be over about £164 per week then it is extremely unlikely that this figure will be other than zero. Hopefully someone will post the link so he can check.

Section 8 Surely he is filing self assessment or similar, in which case his income should be after expenses have been deducted.

[Deleted User] · 7 March 2019 at 4:14PM

Hi, thank you for your reply.

Section 7f I've actually found some info about "Additional State Pension" - people only qualify for this if a male born before 6 April 1951 or a female born before 6 April 1953. So Additional state pension doesn't apply for my cousin. (If it did,, the court can look at Additional State Pension as a financial asset which can be shared via a pension sharing order. There is a form you can get "Pensions and divorce or dissolution" BR20NSP which you submit to Pensions)

Section 8. I feel the same way as you, but the form says Net Income (after deductions for tax & NI contributions only). So nothing about deducting Expenses if self-employed.

badmemory · 7 March 2019 at 6:33PM

It may be worth looking at what is included for someone who has a child maintenance claim against them as it is a similar situation. There is no way the costs of doing the business could be included.

It will be the amount that is taxable less the tax & NI deduction. With a lot of businesses making less than 10% profit/income because operating expenses are so high, it could make it seem as if he was earning 10 times what he actually is.

Look for the taxable income declared to HMRC - knock off the NI & tax paid & that is your figure. These forms are designed for bog standard peoples affairs. Question 7f definitely now needs rewriting but it will probably take until 2030 to get it done.

TBagpuss · 7 March 2019 at 8:54PM

Net income = net profit - i.e. gross profit less tax and NI.
The figure is after business expenses but without taking off deductions like pension contributions

[Deleted User] · 7 March 2019 at 11:35PM

Thanks very much for your replies. We had actually used the taxable income less tax & NI figure - just were not sure if that was right or not. Thanks very much for confirming this is the correct way to do it.

[Deleted User] · 14 March 2019 at 9:21AM

Something else has now cropped up. Your advice/thoughts are appreciated.

To recap, my cousin & his wife have separated & got decree nisi. They have agreed to sell the house, have selected an estate agent & both have signed the Estate agent terms. It is due to go on the market imminently

They have agreed how the money is split. She gets the lion's share.

My cousin has just filled in his Statement of Information (which includes how the money is to be split & estate agent info.) & sent it to his solicitor to review, so it can then go to his wife, and eventually be signed & sent to Court, along with consent order.

His wife has just said that as my cousin has not signed the Statement of Information yet, it is illegal for any viewings of the house to take place, any offers to be accepted etc. --- so there is no point putting the house on the market yet.

Personally, he feels if they've both signed the Estate Agent terms, viewings & accepting offers are not illegal.
It could be she wants it all sewn up first in case he changes his mind on the financial split - and this is her way of putting pressure on him to sign the document quickly.
So, are house viewings illegal if the Statement of Information has not been signed? Thank you in advance.

TBagpuss · 14 March 2019 at 2:56PM

No of course not.

They could sell the house and split the money before the order evr ges to the court (it's not generlaly wise, but it would be perfectly legal)

He may want to get his solicitor to contact hers to insist that it is pushed along.

The problem is that until the order is made, they can only really market if they both agree, so if she is determined to stall then getting the order made as soon as possible is the only thing that enables him to force the issue.

[Deleted User] · 14 March 2019 at 10:40PM

Thank you for your reply. It's very helpful.
A bit worrying that his wife's solicitor has said it's illegal when it's clearly not.
Basically we think his wife is insisting it's illegal (in a series of 8 ranting emails sent over a 20 minute period!) purely as a ploy to pressure my cousin to sign the statement of information in a hurry. This is to ensure he does not renege on the agreement of how the money is split.
Thanks again.

Question about Statement of Info form for Divorce

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