STBX spending all the money

Hi Guys,

Anyone offer any advice on this? My STBX and I were married for 6 years, 1 child. stbx would not leave marital home (in his name only) so we had to. Stbx held cash assets of equal value to marital home and we have full financial disclosure as part of divorce. there should have been enough for us both to be housed but stbx has spent all the money on a new business and told me via his solicitors that he''s not giving me anything! And he doesn''t- no child support, no maintenance, no nothing. We are going to court but not until April.

Surely he can''t get away with this? Surely I am entitled to a fair share of our marital assets? Surely it''s not ok for him to spend our money like this?

Sorry, Tessa, but you didn''t have to leave the marital home. Almost certainly you could have stayed there. At least for the time being. Possibly indefinitely.
I know it''s hard to advise without more facts. You do not have to wait for a Court hearing before applying to enforce child support. The Court has powers to set aside transactions which are done with the aim of defeating your claims to financial relief, but this is beyond the capacity of your average self repper. If he has assets you can get at them.
I''m well aware of the problem of legal costs but every case is different. If, for example, you could get, say £100,000, but have to spend £20,000 say to get it, it''s still better than allowing him to ride roughshod over you.
LMM

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately we couldn''t have stayed. In fact we stayed too long and damage was done.

And now I''m broke and trying to ensure we don''t end up homeless!

Legal costs I realise. I''m genuinely worried that there will deliberately and spitefully be nothing left soon and worried how that works. If everything is spent and trashed, how can ''nothing'' be split in 2?

I strongly advise you to at least get some legal advice. You need a strong letter going back to them saying you will be contacting the CSA and that you will be applying for a court order to prevent him dissapaiting the marital assets any further.

For his solicitor to write and tell you he will not be paying any child support is appauling!

Good luck.

When someone owes you something and does not pay, it''s necessary to consider how you would go about enforcing payment. Getting a judgment of itself does not always achieve your objective.
Of course much depends on the circumstances of the debtor, but if there is evidence of deliberate dissipation of assets, I believe it is true that the Court can place a freezing order on what assets he has, including his bank account, and may be able to set aside transactions made with the purpose of preventing you getting your hands on them.
Unfortunately I am not a practicioner in the field of divorce, my specialism lay elsewhere. But whatever your field of expertise, the fact remains that a debtor must have some assets or income that can be '' got at '' and speed is of the essence, for reasons which by now are clear to you.
I would always advise a benefits check, and quickly. It might help, it might not, but an appointment with a CAB will not cost you anything. It sounds to me that you should try and set one up as soon as possible, and also investigate the possibility of legal advice.
However, I certainly did specialise in housing, and if it is possible that you may become homeless in the near future, I''d be happy to talk to you on the phone if you send me a PM.
LMM

Thank you everyone for your replies. I have legal advice and am told that its unlikely a freezing order will be granted as he could successfully argue he needs cash to grow the business. It''s more likely ill just be out of pocket on the costs.
I suppose I should have faith that this will work out once we get to court. I suppose I should have faith that the court will recognise what he''s done, and also recognise my housing needs!

My husband split the capital in the bank 50/50 and at the moment I have been living off that. I have found a temporary job but my hours have been reduced to 12 and for minimum pay.
My husband earns 10 times more then me an hour.
He left the FMH 20 months ago, i shall soon be starting divorce proceedings.
Husband has spent a fortune since he left on holidays etc.
I was financial dependent on him through 22 years of marriage, he does not contribute anything now financially.
I''d like to know if any of the money he has spent since leaving will be taken into when sorting out the finances.( I feel he has been excessively spending to dissipate his assets)