Ex not responding to Court Order - First Appointme

Hi

I wonder if someone can help. My ex and I broke up in 2018. Divorce was finalised mid-way through 2019. I have made two offers to settle our finances (house, car, small amount of savings) but my ex has refused to respond to either attempt. I was left with no other option than to file for a Financial Dispute Resolution Order with the Court. We notified my ex's solicitor and I understand that the first Court Order was sent to my ex's solicitor too. We have not heard anything from my ex's solicitor since we wrote to them to notify. The Court Order says form E's need to be exchanged by 1 Jan 2020. I lodged mine at the Court in December and wrote to my ex's solicitor to say I'm ready to exchange. No response over Christmas. I called my solicitor today to ask whether we have heard anything in respect of exchanging. I've been told that nothing has been received.

My ex appears to be refusing to cooperate as he knows that the outcome will not be favourable to him (we bought a new build property together which has since gone down in value. I've got another job which means I can take over the mortgage on my own but the current value of the house means its in negative equity, so there is no money to give him).

Will I still have to attend the First Appointment at the Court if my ex is refusing to respond? What can I do to compel him to respond and can I claim my costs back for the preparation of the Form E and my barrister's fee if I still have to attend the hearing despite the fact that my ex has not adhered to the court order?

Any views would be much appreciated.

You have to prepare the Form E anyway so you don't actually lose anything from preparing that.

In relation to the barrister's fees, an adjourned hearing will mean that the fee will be wasted unless the matter is progressed in the absence of your ex.

The crucial point is that in family law the starting point is that each party bears their own costs so you will have to put your ex on notice that you are to seek a costs order against him if the FDA is adjourned as a result of him failing to comply with the directions of the court (filing and serving documents) or turning up at the hearing.

It is possible to apply to the court for a penal notice to be attached to the directions but a court fee will be payable and the application might take a long time to deal with. If your ex complies with directions before your application is processed you will likely lose your court fee.

It all depends upon the date of the FDA as to which course of action is the most appropriate.

As an aside, I assume that your Form E has been filed with the Court? There is no reason this shouldn't be done.

Charles

Thank you, Charles. That is really helpful.

It turns out that my Solicitor was sitting on a letter from the other side since the 23rd Dec which said that they are ready to exchange. The strange thing is that my Solicitor firm won't send me a copy of this letter because the solicitor who is dealing with my matter is away from the office unwell (they only read it out over the phone to me because I said that what they were doing was tantamount to torture by telling me there's a letter there but not telling me what it says!).

The letter from the other side also said that they will put the Form E disclosure in the DX for delivery today. I called my solicitors this morning to see whether it had arrived. I was told that even if they had received it they wouldn't be able to send it to me because my solicitor is still away from the office unwell and only she can forward on correspondence.

I have util 22 January to lodge my questions with the Court in respect of my ex's disclosure. If I have to wait until Monday when my Solicitor may (or may not!) be in, a whole weekend has been wasted when I could have been considering the disclosure and formulating the questions.

Confused and disappointed is an understatement! I would have thought that the disclosure is my property and therefore if I ask for it I should be able to have it?

If the other side has your Form E you are entitled to see their Form E otherwise you are being prejudiced.

If I were you I would ring up and ask to speak to your lawyer's manager or, if there isn't one, the complaints partner.

You are the client and your solicitor (or the person that has taken over from them in the interim) should send you the other side's Form E.

If the Forms E are being held in escrow awaiting your lawyer's return then it would be perfectly proper to leave the Form E in an unsealed envelope and not forward it to you but I suspect that this isn't the case.

Charles