Representing yourself in court

i married someone form overseas,and lived with them for 2 months as husband and wife ,i filed an occupation order which failed ,i lost my home and now i have filed for divorce ,we have a child under 16.i had to pay ancillary relief pending the divorce,together our marriage is of 2 years .my soon to be wife has file for lump sum order,capital spousal maintainance and nominal maintainance,the asset i hav is one property on my own and another which is joint with my sister ,i am in alot of debt and worried that after i have to pay all these what she is asking i will be in further debt,my solicitor who did not seem to be experienced has dropped me as i cannot pay the money to pay the fees anymore ,i have the first hearing appointment in a aeek what advice can you please give to me ,im desperate as i have no solicitor.i also have 3 other children ouside my marriage that i have to support.

Hiya Muggins. Yours is a short marriage so I think you will come out OK as far as assets are concerned. I self repped in a non mol case and I got kicked around the court. They dont cut you any slack for self repping. I felt like a criminal and I did nothing wrong. I know you say you cant afford a solicitor but they (IMHO) are worth it. They are experts and provided you get a good one will save you money. Cant you approch one and ask to pay monthly? Otherwise you are gona get shafted good and proper. Chris.

I too represented myself in court for a year, and as Chris says they cut you no slack and I alos felt like a criminal, however when I did have a solicitor I was also cut no slack and again was treated like a criminal.

I represented myself as my experience of solicitors is most of them are inexperienced and far too busy too concentrate on any one persons case at a time therefore they are ill prepared and it costs you a lot of money for nothing.

However if you chose to represent yourself you will need to have all your facts available and be clear and precise, you will also have to provide formal documentation to the court and it must be in the correct format.

You only get one chance at it so you have to provide all the facts, you can not go back later and say you forgot to tell them something, they will throw you out and your ex will win.

If you are unsure I agree with Chris get a solicitor and agree to pay monthly.

Good Luck MSC

Muggins: I self-repped at my first divorce (1999), I felt like a criminal. The judge was quite scarey. I felt like I'd been hauled in front of the head-master!

However, my ex, (who had a team of seven Barristers, Solicitors, minions etc) and paid over £25k for his councel, was not treated any better.

I WON! Amen. I later joked with his solicitor about empoying me!

I self-repped with issues of Custody! Again, felt persecuted, but won.

I self-repped in a small-claims court, (had issued with a kitchen company), they came in with their legal team, I won that too!

I'm self-repping in a Non mol / Conduct case. (See my long thread).... I feel like I'm on Death-Row awaiting my hanging!

But, just get as much evidence as possible. Make a statement of what you want, what you provided, support that with as much evidence.

Leave out the emotional stuff. Just deal with the issues. Financial Hearings don't usually deal with the emotional problems, or your visits to kids etc.

Be polite. You will get your opportunity to speak, and you will be heard.