Advice anyone...

Hello everyone,

I am very new to this site and so far have found it very interesting but scary how many awful stories people have.

Early last year my H left me after having had an affair. He didn't want to reconcile and we have been living apart since then. He left me with a large amount of debt all in my name.

He agreed to sign a legal document in which he accepted half the liability and agreed to pay half the repayments. I am now looking at getting a divorce and doing so without a solicitor (as i can't afford the repayments). I am worried that by getting a divorce the legal agreement he has already signed would be worthless and he could stop paying.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Umm that depends if this agreement was signed after taking legal advice. If it was made and agreed without legal advice then it becomes hard to enforce it. However. It shows intent and that can be important in a dispute.

What I would do is take the agreement with you when U see yr solicitor about yr divorce. He can then forward an official version to yr ex and ask him to seek legal advice and sign and return the document. This can then be turned into an order and then its binding. F

Hi,

Thanks very much for replying and for your advice.

The agreement was drawn up by my solicitor and my H signed and returned it no problem. I was hoping to obtain divorce papers from the court and do this myself becasue solicitors costs are huge and i can't really afford them. Do you think this is unwise and i should use a solicitor to ensure the agreement is enforcable?

Hi there

The agreement and the divorce are almost 2 separate issues.

Firstly, there is nothing wrong in you representing yourself. From a legal point of view divorce is a paperwork exercise and there is always help here if you get stuck on any of the forms.

In terms of your agreement, this needs to be turned into a Consent Order in between your Decree Nisi and Decree Absolute. For this I would recommend that you have assistance as it has to be written in legal language to be approved by the judge.

If your stbx has not threatened anything in respect of the agreement I wouldn't worry too unduly at the moment as perhaps his silence can be taken as meaning that he does not rock the boat.

If he decides to rock the boat, you need advice then as to how to try to enforce the agreement.

Amanda

Amanda thank you.

That makes perfect sense and on the papers from the court i have noted something called a consent order, but didn't know what this was.

My H has not mentioned anything, but payments have not exactly been regular over the last year. I have been amazed at the amount of time off 'sick' and therefore without wages and unable to pay me he has had!

It seems the concent order is the way to go and i will look to getting help with this while o sort the divorce out.

Thank you once again.

V