Decree Absolute but ex wants money

Afternoon All

Don't know if mine is unusual but would love to get advice from the knowledge base on here.......

Sold marital home 18 months ago prior to divorce and split equity 50/50 with ex. She never worked as she raised our children. Also have overpaid child maintenance to circa £10k plus she left me with credit card debt that she ran up.

Ex failed to respond to any financial solution and pressed on with divorce which became final last August. She then got remarried in January (I am still single). She is now pushing for me to sell a house I owned previous and give her 50% of the equity even though both her and new husband work.

I have read about the "remarriage trap" and how she has lost all claims on anything going forward because a financial settlement order wasnt registered by her solicitor - so just looking for advice to where I stand please ?

Which of you was petitioner and was this an old style divorce??

How long was the marriage, are there any minor children to consider?

As far as I am aware, remarriage without a legally binding financial settlement in place may mess up capital claims. However pension sharing claims may still be made.

In any event, financial settlement is based on need. If her housing need is met with her 50% of the equity than I can't see that she would get a share of non matrimonial property.

Hadenoughnow

She was the petitioner.
We were married for around 10 years before the absolute came through but only together in that time around 6 years. Children are now 10 and 12.

As I said I do pay CM and have overpaid it for a number of months. She is juts money obsessed and I do think because she pushed on with the divorce to allow remarriage she wasn't bothered about a settlement being in place even though my solicitor contacted her solicitor to say we wanted that in place prior to the absolute.

She is currently living in a rental property that her parents own that she will inherit and has no intention of moving out or on as she is doing work on the property

If the financial settlement is based on need, she is remarried so has 2 wages going into her household as well as CM plus she hid a previous settlement figure from the council to allow her to continue to claim benefits

As petitioner she may well have ticked the boxes on the petition that technically start the financial claim. Assuming she did, she would be able to make an application to court for financial remedy.
She would need to show that the settlement agreed and actioned was not fair in all the circumstances of the case. If there are pensions, a pension share could be pursued.
What you really need is a Clean Break order to end all future claims.

Hadenoughnow

I have checked the wording on the Absolute and it doesn't show any indication of her starting a financial claim. All it states is that she my have a claim on pensions - but seeing as neither of us had a pension its irrelevant.

From my readings the "remarriage trap" seems to push things back into my favour and I think she knows this as she said I can buy her out rather than go to court

The Decree Absolute has guidance notes including in respect of pension claims. As the financial process is separate, it doesn't reference that. What you need to check is the original petition to see if she ticked the boxes in relation to a financial claim.
Whether she is or not, the only way she can force matters is an application to court. If there's no pension to consider, then there would seem to be little merit in you doing this. If there is a pension, you need to think about how to handle things. A clean break is ideally needed.

Hadenoughnow

I dont know if I have a copy of the original petition - to be honest her solicitor never communicated anything and I slipped through the court safety net. I only found out I was divorced AFTER the absolute was issued and the court never sent me a copy - my solicitor had to request it

Can i get a copy of the original petition her solicitor submitted ?