Welcome to the DAD.Info forum: Important Information – open to read:
Our forum aims to provide support and guidance where it can, however we may not always have the answer. The forum is not moderated 24 hours a day, so If you – or someone you know – are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call the police on 999.
Alternatively, if you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123.
If you are worried about you or someone you know is at risk of harm, please click here: How we can help
I`m pretty certain this is going to be one of those questions to which the response is "get legal advice" ... but ... the reality of my situation means that I cannot instruct a solicitor to act on my behalf because the costs would be too high, I`ll explain in a minute.
summary of my current situation :
a) wife had 3rd affair, I left and started divorce - divorce has now completed after 16 months ...
b) family home is now sold completed and I agreed with ex-wifes solicitor the proposal to split the equity in the house on completion.
c) I have repeatedly asked her sols for an aimcable financial separation (i.e. I want a financial separation in addition to the finalising of the divorce because I don't want her making some belated claim to any income or whatever later on).
d) I get very very little contact from her solicitor - so I`ve decided to begin the process of applying for a financial order myself.
e) I cant instruct a solicitor - I got a quote from the solicitor who acted on my behalf on the _family matters_ (i.e. I got a defined contact order settled in court to regulate my access to my daughter) ... her fees would be a minimum of over £5000 ... and any claims I may make to any possessions, liabilities etc would amount to most likely less than that so it would be counter productive to pay a solicitor to represent me when I already have taken my half share of the equity in the house and there was only about 6k of house goods I left, a shared credit card balance of 6k which I have since paid off (I even offered her sols to ignore this in the settlement if she did it amicably) and the value of one of the cars we owned)..... the only thing my ex wife can lay claim to is possibly a pension sharing order which I appreciate I may have to at some point agree to.... but anyway
to get to the point - I have been with my current partner quite some time now and we would like to buy a house together... whilst I appreciate that the divorce completing is not the same as a financial separation ... I want to know if there is any reason people are aware of why it would be unsafe of me and my partner to get a mortgage together before I have completed a financial separation from my ex-wife and got a financial order. is there some ludicrous potential for her to make claim to any possession I may aquire or any property I may apply to buy ...
expecting the "best ask a solicitor" ... but ... its worth a shot. someone else more knowledgeable may know more about it than I. trying to google and find any information on the topic is like finding a needle in a haystack.
thanks in advance
I think you do definitely need legal advice, the consequences could be dire if you get it wrong - however, initially, I would have a word with the Citizens Advice Bureau for some free advice, and possibly get a free initial consultation with a solicitor.
Also, your solicitor gave you a cost for representing you, but there's nothing to stop you representing yourself, and paying for an hour or two sometimes to get specific legal advice so you know you are going in the right direction - if you are organised beforehand when you go to see your solicitor (questions written down, anything not important should be left out), there's no reason why you can't bring those costs down massively.
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We don’t like to set ‘rules’, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.