Stuck after Form-E! How to proceed?

Hi,
I have an ex who is ‘determined’ to make sure I don’t receive a penny in settlement and I don’t feel like I can rely on my solicitor to manage this for me! I need help in deciding whether to keep using them or not.

My likely settlement (if any) is relatively small. I’ve not done this before so it’s hard for me to really gauge how accurate this is but I was told by the solicitor it might lay between £60 to £20K total.
The marriage was very short (only 2 years) but I quit a good job and built a large house extension during that time. Especially to make us money on selling. It was funded by us both but mainly from a remortgage in her name.
After all bills are paid it retains a £100K equity profit / uplift. My solicitor said I should claim for half of this and some lost income, thus the small amounts mentioned.

I’m not interested in her pension or any equity from before we met. Just my contribution and effort.

I was on legal aid until last month but ive just earned too much for this now and it’s stopped. I’ve been advised that if I continue with my application I may well be charged 15 to 20K if it goes all the way to a final hearing.
To add to my confusion my solicitor has gone on holiday for two weeks and we had only just exchanged the form E with the other party. No one is looking after the case and no negotiations are taking place. When my solicitor gets back we go straight into the first hearing (FDA?). I feel like things should be happening and I am somehow messing this up out of ignorance.

Any help or suggestions welcome!

Well, you say you gave up a good job. So do I deduce from this that you have the potential to get a better job ?

Where are you living at the moment and where is she living ?

I''d be inclined to agree with the general drift of what your solicitor is saying, namely that where you have a short marriage with no children then you are looking at a Clean Break, but that is not to say you will come away with nothing at all. Very few people come away from a divorce with nothing.

The problem is, of course, costs and you need to offset the likely costs of going to full hearing as against what you might expect to get from it. I have always suggested that where you are confronted with an ex who will not negotiate at all, then don''t waste money in trying.

But I''d say that, if this went to a final hearing, you would get a smallish sum to '' get you on your feet '' and tide you over financially while you look for a better job, and get settled in a new home. I don''t think your solicitor is all that far off.

Is it possible to treat the First Appointment as an FDR ? You need to get the matter before a judge as quickly as possible.

LMM