Intervention by parent in ancillary relief

I live in the former matrimonial home and I have just submitted Form A to the county court. My elderly father resides in a self-contained annex to the matrimonial home. This annex is approximately the same size as the rest of the house, the original property. A short time after I married my stbx, my father sold his home and put the proceeds of sale into having this extension built onto the matrimonial home, which my stbx had previously purchased on a mortgage. This he did at my stbx’s behest. In fact, before my father sold his home and came to live here, my stbx, who is the sole legal title holder of the matrimonial home, agreed that if my father did come to live here and had the extension built he would have a 50% interest in the property. My stbx is now denying this, but (subject to what he says in his form E) he has always acknowledged that my father has some interest in the matrimonial home – the dispute between them is about the value/proportion of that interest. Having said that, my stbx has also always resisted my father (or me, for that matter) having his name on the title although my father’s interest is protected by a unilateral notice on the title register. I have listed my father’s interest on Form A. With or without my father’s share being taken into account, the matrimonial home comprises the vast majority of the matrimonial property. In order to intervene in Ancillary Relief, can my father simply submit a letter to the court accompanying my Form E or perhaps by sending it to the court independently and prior to First Hearing, or does he have to do more than this to make the court properly aware of his claim?

Once the court is made aware of my father’s claim, will the district judge at First Appointment give Directions on how it is to be dealt with? Also, as he is elderly and I cannot imagine him going to court on his own, I think it might be better if my father’s case was heard at Final Hearing rather than as an entirely separate matter with a separate hearing. My thoughts are that the latter would be difficult if not impossible to manage as he is not capable of independently working on his case whether or not solicitors or barristers are involved. Has anyone had experience of anything like this? Also, is there a downside to my father’s case being heard at Final Hearing and, if so, what would that be? I should say that my father has been advised in the past that he has a strong case that he has a significant interest in the matrimonial home and he has evidence of his expenditure and so on, so this is not a contrived soft loan case.

Any thoughts on this would be very gratefully received.

Your father will have to make an application to intervene in the proceedings.

Typically, the court will consider the issues at the first hearing and, if your father has not already applied to the court, will make a direction that your father apply to intervene should he wish to do so.

If your ex denies your father''s interest the court might well list the issue to be heard within the current proceedings as the decision will affect how the rest of the case is resolved.

You need to be aware that both you and your ex might are at risk of paying your father''s costs. A successful intervenor is likely to obtain an order for costs which is payable from the matrimonial pot and as this is joint, you and your ex might end up footing the bill.

Charles

Thanks, Charles.

Do you or anyone else know how formal the initial application from my father has to be? Can it be in the form of a letter from him, or does it have to be a statement of claim or something similar? Also, if a letter will do, is there any reason why it might be better coming from a solicitor acting on his behalf rather than from him personally?

Also, has anyone had any experience of a third party intervention being heard at Final Hearing and how it proceeds? Any information would be great.

Is intervention at Final Hearing the normal procedure, or is it more usual to have a separate hearing over the third party interest and, if so, why?

Thanks.

Intervening in proceedings is normally done at an early stage. If you leave it into final hearing the court may refuse to grant leave for the third party to intervene or may adjourn the final hearing, possibly with costs consequences.

Your father will have to make a formal application which he can do himself or through a solicitor - it doesn''t matter which. A fee will be payable which is likely to be £155.

Charles