Good solicitor required to fend off Income Diminisher

[ratewhore]

[QUOTE=Swamp Thing]

4 questions for you here SwampThing.

i) Are there any children from the marriage ? ONE

ii) How many years old was the marriage ? 5

iii) How old (roughly) were both of you when you split ? Me 38, her 32

iv) Did your wife contribute significantly to your company and/or was she a shareholder up until the time you split ? Was she employed elsewhere ?QUOTE]

I was a permie when we split. I coughed up 62% to make a clean break divorce and paying 15% child maintenance until age 17. All that the court order said re. maintenance was that I would have to inform the ex whenever I had a change of salary. For practical purposes this means an increase. Well, of course that may take a long time the way I operate. Problem is, the ex won't take my word for it that my salary hasn't risen by gazillions. She wants the last 6 months' payslips, and for me to do this every 6 months. Otherwise she'll initiate a legal fishing trip.
I can't let her know about the company. Do you think letting her have a copy of the P60 with the company name and address removed would work?

So the order states you must inform her of change of salary? IANAL but salary is salary, dividend is dividend.

Is this just spousal maintenance she is after an increase in? If it's child maintenance then you do have the right to go to the CSA after a court order has been in effect 12 months.

As an aside, my solicitor says under no circumstances agree to pay spousal maintenance at a divorce hearing for exactly this reason, even the nominal 5p/year which so often gets suggested...

[Swamp Thing]

[QUOTE=ratewhore]

So the order states you must inform her of change of salary? IANAL but salary is salary, dividend is dividend.

Is this just spousal maintenance she is after an increase in? If it's child maintenance then you do have the right to go to the CSA after a court order has been in effect 12 months.

As an aside, my solicitor says under no circumstances agree to pay spousal maintenance at a divorce hearing for exactly this reason, even the nominal 5p/year which so often gets suggested...

It’s just child maintenance. I’m basically paying the ex 15% of what was a good salary when I was a permie. For the last few months I have done the usual contractor thing – minimal salary (but just enough to stay off Hector’s radar) + divvies. But I’m still paying the ex the full 15% of my previous permie salary, I’m not being stupid and dropping the maintenance. But I just don’t want her knowing about the ltd company and divvies.
N.B. The ex is foreign and lives in France: apparently the CSA won’t look at cases where the complainant is non-resident in the UK. But that may only make her go straight to the solicitor. Make no mistake, she’s a dog after a bone.

[BobTheCrate]

Swampy,

OK then, so there's a child from the marriage. Are you happy you're paying a reasonable level of child maintenance not withstanding the 62% of presumably the marital home which I think you said was in exchange for zero spouse maintenance.

NO - DON'T DIVULGE ANYTHING about your company, salary, P60, dividends, anything.

What your ex wife says she wants, and wants she gets, are two distinctly different things.

If she doesn't believe your salary hasn't increased substantially - basically that's her problem. Make her WORK and work hard to find that out. Don't just hand her the info every time she demands it.

"She wants the last 6 months' payslips, and for me to do this every 6 months. Otherwise she'll initiate a legal fishing trip."

In times of such conflict, people have a habit of telling you things they want you to believe. It doesn't make it true. She'll have a very difficult time of it 'forcing' you to divulge anything.

I wouldn't divulge anything more until such time as a judge 'may' tell you to. Your ex will inherit a king size headache just trying to get to a judge who then may or may not order you supply payslips. When ordered, unless specifically asked by the judge, just provide payslips not dividend payments.

Employ the old & reliable 'wearing down tactics'. For example don't respond to her so called demands, but ask one or two of your own but only one at a time with a healthy space of time inbetween.

Ask your wife to provide all details of all her income, both direct & indirect. It doesn't matter it isn't relevant - it's just tactics.

If she doesn't comply - great. Keep asking.

Whatever she says she earns (or doesn't) - then ask for evidence/proof. i.e she sends you her payslips every 6 months.

[AlfredJPruffock]

Excellent advice there BTC.

And some say Romance isnt alive and kicking on the valiant boards of CUK !

[Phoenix]

All this is only going to make the solicitors richer
I Suggest talking to her to find out what the problem is and why she is suspicious of you.
Do not divulge anything about your employment status, without a court request, and don't tell her anything about "how well you are doing" without her...............Boy, I hope she was a good shag

[Swamp Thing]

I second that, excellent advice BTC. I may just keep a smile on my face over the next few months. And if at the end of it all the judge says I must cough up some dividend, I'll announce the company is being dissolved - times are hard y'know...

[Swamp Thing]

Boy, I hope she was a good shag

God she was, but the strife since then does not compensate, sorry to say.

[Fleetwood]

If she lives in France mate, you're sorted.
Dis-lui d'aller se faire foutre!!
This was a tactic I used with Mme Fleetwood. I patiently explained to her that, as I lived in one country and she in another, any arrangement we came to was essentially voluntary, as it would be virtually impossible for her to take any action against me, the Belgian legal system being what it is.

I suggest you tell her to see a solicitor en France. She'll soon give up when she sees that the amount of money she spends on legal fees is inversely proportional to any increase in payments.

[BobTheCrate]

All this is only going to make the solicitors richer

Normally ne'er a truer word. But this reminds me Swampy.

You don't need a solicitor to respond to her letters (or her solicitor's). Be pollite and top each letter "Without prejudice". This means they cannot wield your letters in any court, in the unlikely event she has the energy to chase it that far.

Aggression is not necessary. Cool & calculating is.

If she uses a solicitor to correspond with you, the time will come when she has her solicitor's bills to deal with.

It is not uncommon for the wife's or ex wife's solicitor to send their bill to the husband/ex husband.

You are not under any obligation whatsoever to pay it, again until such time as a Judge tells you to (very, very, really very unlikely).

[expat]

Normally ne'er a truer word. But this reminds me Swampy.

You don't need a solicitor to respond to her letters (or her solicitor's). Be pollite and top each letter "Without prejudice". This means they cannot wield your letters in any court, in the unlikely event she has the energy to chase it that far.

Aggression is not necessary. Cool & calculating is.

If she uses a solicitor to correspond with you, the time will come when she has her solicitor's bills to deal with.

It is not uncommon for the wife's or ex wife's solicitor to send their bill to the husband/ex husband.

You are not under any obligation whatsoever to pay it, again until such time as a Judge tells you to (very, very, really very unlikely).

careful here. If she gets legal aid, she has bottomless pockets to get lawyers to harass you. You don't.