Part 25/ delays question

Hi.

at the last hearing Judge asked us to exhange, answer and submit our questionnaires to the court. Ex has answered mine but did not send me a questionnaire despite reminders. Will this cause further delays? We were given 2 week timeframe, deadline for that was 5 weeks ago. Next court date is 9 weeks from now. Still dont expect ex to send anything as they have been purposely slow and obstructive throughout.

Secondly Judge mentioned a Part 25 in respect to the house valuation. I do not have access to the property, ex made threats to devalue the property with poorly carried out diy - I have proof of this in texts/whatsapp. Will court take this into consideration?

Do I need to apply for the part 25 now prior to the next hearing or do I have to wait?

Any advice would be really appreciated. Thank you.

If they have missed the court deadline to provide a questionnaire, then it must be assumed there won't be one. There doesn't have to be. Lack of a questionnaire will weaken their ability to raise things further down the line.

If they won't co-operate with valuation you need a D11 application for a single joint expert valuation. You can ask for specific conditions in respect of access to the property etc. you should apply ASAP. It may be that the next hearing date has to be used for directions. You cannot have a fruitful FDR if key information is missing.

It's worth attaching a draft letter of instruction for approval and sending your ex a list of 3 chartered surveyors to pick from - that you then attach to the application. That way hopefully the judge can deal with both permission for the report and selection of the expert in one go.

Hadenoughnow

Sorry for the delay, thanks so much for your response!

Just to clarify am putting the conditions for access to the property in the d11 form itself and/or the draft letter of instruction?

Ex still resides at the property, can I request that ex and their current partner are not present at property when surveyor is conducting the valuation? I know surveyors are instructed to be independent and not discuss with either party privately but I still feel due to Ex's behavior that they will still attempt to influence valuation.

I have serious concerns that my Ex intends to devalue the property (if they havent already) and have text message evidence of this. I have mentioned this in my form E but due to continued stalling on Ex's part we have not got to the stage where this would be addressed in court.

I know property does need work, but I also know that Ex is keeping property in poor condition from a cosmetic/hygiene standpoint eg soiling from multiple pets. Is there a way to phrase instruction to surveyor to disregard minor/easily resolved cosmetic issues and instead focus on structural condition eg. Kitchen needs replacing so I wouldn't count this as minor, but the bathroom just needs a good clean!

Also sorry if off topic but Ex made significant *cash* withdrawl shown on bank statements, claims money spent on repair work but no evidence (eg invoices) Ex is claiming to have spent thousands. I feel this is a clear deprivation of assets . Judge did note this at previous hearing but again we were not at the stage of adressing these things. How do courts tend to approach these situations?

Thanks you for all your kind help!

I would explain the rationale for any specific conditions you want to attach/ include in the letter of instruction. You need to contact the other side first to see if they will agree to the valuation and sign the joint letter of instruction. If they refuse then the application should go in.
In respect of funds that have been withdrawn but not used for the stated purpose, presumably this has been raised in your questionnaire? What do you think has been done with the cash?
If there are thousands missing without evidence to show what the money's been spent on, you can ask the court to treat it as an 'add back' - ie part of the settlement they have already received. This may not succeed if it is a pure needs case but it is worth a try.

Hadenoughnow