Ex wants to stop paying

Ok so will try to keep this brief. Divorced 2 years - reached settlement at the door of FDR - took a year to get there as ex self-employed and huge problems with disclosure on form E. He had spent previous 2/3 years hiding money and winding down his business whilst our personal circumstances showed no change. He managed to prove in court that his businesses were in serious trouble, produced ''loan notes'' from memebers of his family and basically painted a dire picture - we have a court order and he pays SM and CM at a relatively low rate compared with our previous lifestyle. I have accepted this and chose a home for myself and two daughters to allow me to live within these new means... he is now saying he cannot even afford to pay what he actually suggested and was agreed as his business is even worse... thing is, since divorce he has bought a house with his mistress (she brought very little to the party) - they paid 1.5M for the house, 600K mortgage, says his brother lent him the balance, drives a new range rover, bought gf bmw convertible, been skiing 4 times this year, struts about in armani jeans etc etc... can anyone tell me how i can argue my case that he can clearly afford the global maintenance as his lifestyle shows there is money when he says there is not and can probably do the same again with his accounts, family collaboration etc... although i know i should probably have got more i just didnt want to fight anymore but now he is trying to take even that away.... help....

Hi I could be wrong and a more experienced Wiki will advise but I am certain if an order is in place and he doesnt pay then you can apply to enforce it - he can''t simply decide that he can''t afford to pay a court order - he has to apply to vary it.

xx

My ex has previously threatened this - the only thing I was sure of was that I could register my spousal maintenance order with a Magistrates'' Court and they would "pursue" him for payment by attachment of earnings so I told him what was likely to happen and the payments have continued as before.
From this,
www.compactlaw.co.uk/free-legal-informat...ntenance-orders.html

it looks as though a charge on his new house is a possibility?

"Charging Order
If your opponent owns property you can apply to the court to "Register a Charge" at the "Land Registry" against your opponent''s property to show that you have an interest in the sale proceeds of the property. This forewarns any person intending to buy your opponent''s property.
If there are any other Charges registered before you on the Land Register then those Charges will be paid first before your Charge. For example, if there is a mortgage registered against your opponent''s property then that mortgage will be repaid first from the proceeds of sale.

Once you have registered a Charge against your opponent''s property then you can apply to the court to Order that the property is sold so that your Charge can be paid as soon as possible."

A dialogue on that theme might start to have a good effect?

Thank you Maggie - that is helpful - i have printed off the info. It seems that because my ex is self employed (owns his own businesses) he can get away with all sorts of things. Do you know if it is true that now he is co-habiting his new joint financial situation would be scrutinised? as obviously he is telling me that ''she'' pays for everything and owns everything...

Emma is correct. He should apply to vary the order and to simultaneously remit arrears. Then he could reduce payments. The court will then in the fullness of time decide whether cm and sm should have been altered and what arrears (if any) should be paid from the date at which he varied his payments.

If he has not done this, then you simply apply to enforce the order. There is actually little else for you to do.

Putting a charge on his property is inappropriate as your claim will be for thousands not hundreds of thousands.

Probably best to write to him setting out the applications he should make and explain that if he does not do so you have no choice but to issue an enforcement order and will use a lawyer seeking costs. Give him a timescale of a couple of weeks for making his application and see what he does.

Hi - yes this has been suggested to me - the problem i have is that he is likely to be able to show on paper that his circumstances are dire in relation to ''declared'' income when the reality is that they are not - he deals with a lot of cash, is a wheeler dealer sort - he and his gf are living a champagne lifestyle which he claims is gifts, her money (i know her ex and it cant be) and financial support from his parents etc etc so i am worried about going back to court as he will most likely get a reduction unless i can prove his lifestyle... we are not in an amicable situation so negotiation is not an option as he is a bully

I''m not sure I could ever tell my ex he should apply to vary - the words would stick in my throat - sadly my tack would be to apply to enforce and wait and see how he deals with the situation.
If he''s cohabiting and the new squeeze is contributing to the household budget that frees up income for maintenance?