minute of agreement

Hi,I was wondering if someone can help. My wife & I seperated in september last year, We had a minute of agreement drawn up by a solicitor & we both signed it before a witness, it was registered in edinburgh. I paid her the sum of money agreed to let me keep the house & she moved out into her own place in november. our mortgage was due to end in february at which point the minute of agreement stated that at that time my wife was required to sign the relevant documents to let me take on a new mortgage on my own. the problem is that I have started a new relationship & my wife has now said she will no longer adhere to the terms of the agreement & she is raising divorce action against me. Her solicitor now wants proof of the matrimonial property at the time of separation.im now left to pay a mortgage which i cant afford on my own, but if i default on the payments i will never get another mortgage! if this goes to court where will I stand as the agreement sorted all finances at the time. she states that I didnt give her full disclosure, which is rubbish, we both knew what each other had, after all we were married for 4 years. any help would be appreciated.

TO have the Separation Agreement set aside your wife would need to show that it wasn''t reasonable at the time it was made. IF the assets were shared "fairly" (usually equally) then a court won''t set the agreement aside.

Hi, thanks for your help. Just to give a bit more info, we bought the matrimonial home 3 years before we married, & at the time my wife had no money, I had £25,000 which I put paid our deposit with, so when we separated we took this into account & we had the house valued at the relevant date which returned a figure of £132,000 our outstanding mortgage was £95,800 take off the £25000 which I paid leaves £11,200 which I paid her £5,600 so surely she cant set the agreement aside because she has now changed her mind & wants to now contest the monies which I put in before we married? Also how can she raise divorce proceedings when we have only been separated for 6 months?

Unfortunately the property was bought with the intention of providing a family home and the agreement could be set aside unless you can argue exceptional circumstances. A solicitor in possession of all the particular facts is in the best position to advise on the probabilities of success.

If your wife has a case it would be better to negotiate/mediate because the legal fees involved in going to court could easily wipe out a large proportion of the amount in dispute.

It makes you wonder if these agreements are a waste of time if one partner can simply change there mind about the terms. I paid around £600 to get it drawn up & registered, A waste of money?

I now have had the sherrifs officers deliver a writ from my ex''s solicitors from the court. she wants the court to grant a divorce on the grounds of adultery! we separated in september & I started a new relaitionship in december, she was living in her new house since the end of october. She wants the minute of agreement set aside because she states it wasnt fair at the time, even though we both agreed it was fair at the time. She is also craving the marital home be sold,and the free proceeds split 50/50. also she wants another £50,000!! even if I sold everything I have I couldnt raise near half of that amount! she also craves that I be responsible for the fees associated with the action.
I see my solicitor today, hopefully he will help me & put my mind at rest a bit. any advice? I just wish it was over & we could get on with our lives:(

Just a wee update. my solicitor has looked at everything he considers to be matrimonial assets, & has written off to the other sides solicitor to ask for vouching as to my ex''s "fragile state" at the time she signed the agreement. It states in the writ that she craves the court to set the agreement aside because she was in a confused & fragile state at the time she signed it. although she was advised to get legal advice she chose not to.

my sol says it all hinges if she can come up with vouching by way of medical records to prove she wasnt in a fit state to sign the agreement. I dont think there was anything wrong with her at the time because she continued to work full time for 3 months after signing it.

Does anybody know how much of a chance she has of getting the agreement set aside?

all very stressfull!
thanks