enforcing a private debt
Discussion
I need a bit of help with something;
When I was married, my then wife and I were given a chunk of money by my mum for a house deposit, the money was previously invested and generated an income, the amount of which we agreed to match each month so my mum wasn't out of pocket.
Now, after the divorce, my ex wife and I split the payment down the middle and have been paying it each month without any trouble, until about 4 months ago, when the money from her side stopped.
There was no paperwork involved at the time but since the money came, there are records of payments from a joint account and later, both mine and my ex's own accounts (including in her current name).
The question is, can I do anything to make her pay her half, or do I just have to accept that she's had a chunk of money and I'm the only one paying for it?
If I can do something, how much does it cost to chase a debt and what is the likely outcome?
When I was married, my then wife and I were given a chunk of money by my mum for a house deposit, the money was previously invested and generated an income, the amount of which we agreed to match each month so my mum wasn't out of pocket.
Now, after the divorce, my ex wife and I split the payment down the middle and have been paying it each month without any trouble, until about 4 months ago, when the money from her side stopped.
There was no paperwork involved at the time but since the money came, there are records of payments from a joint account and later, both mine and my ex's own accounts (including in her current name).
The question is, can I do anything to make her pay her half, or do I just have to accept that she's had a chunk of money and I'm the only one paying for it?
If I can do something, how much does it cost to chase a debt and what is the likely outcome?
Robmarriott said:
I need a bit of help with something;
When I was married, my then wife and I were given a chunk of money by my mum for a house deposit, the money was previously invested and generated an income, the amount of which we agreed to match each month so my mum wasn't out of pocket.
Now, after the divorce, my ex wife and I split the payment down the middle and have been paying it each month without any trouble, until about 4 months ago, when the money from her side stopped.
There was no paperwork involved at the time but since the money came, there are records of payments from a joint account and later, both mine and my ex's own accounts (including in her current name).
The question is, can I do anything to make her pay her half, or do I just have to accept that she's had a chunk of money and I'm the only one paying for it?
If I can do something, how much does it cost to chase a debt and what is the likely outcome?
This should have probably been sorted out in the divorce as realistically the payments were always going to stop IMO.When I was married, my then wife and I were given a chunk of money by my mum for a house deposit, the money was previously invested and generated an income, the amount of which we agreed to match each month so my mum wasn't out of pocket.
Now, after the divorce, my ex wife and I split the payment down the middle and have been paying it each month without any trouble, until about 4 months ago, when the money from her side stopped.
There was no paperwork involved at the time but since the money came, there are records of payments from a joint account and later, both mine and my ex's own accounts (including in her current name).
The question is, can I do anything to make her pay her half, or do I just have to accept that she's had a chunk of money and I'm the only one paying for it?
If I can do something, how much does it cost to chase a debt and what is the likely outcome?
You can do an MCOL/small claims action however your evidence isn't great but with that being said it depends how much evidence she has to the contrary or you may 'win' by default if she chooses to ignore it.
It should be noted that even with a 'win' in this circumstance it is a long and painful process to actually get them money.
I think a very large part of your answer is in the wording of your question (which I am not going to quote should you wish to delete or amend - and I can delete this answer too!).
"When I was married, my then wife and I were given a chunk of money by my mum for a house deposit"
This makes it a matrimonial gift to both of you on an equal basis.
I assume that you have already been through all Form E disclosure as part of the Ancillary Relief aspect of the divorce process, so there is no way you could claim this gift was in fact a loan (which would have very much worked in your favour as you could have deduced this from the calculations at the time and at a future date your mum could have "converted" the loan into a gift for you alone)?
You still have some options though.
Under the law a contract does not have to be in writing. It is blatantly apparent that this gift came with implied terms that required each party to jointly repay your mum for investment loss on the principle capital.
Your ex wife has demonstrated this undertaking by making such payments until cessation 4 months ago. You should find it very straightforward for the Court to uphold this.
Of course this throws up legal costs and the obvious question as to the intended timeline for this arrangement (as the gift was given in anticipation of a matrimonial home purchase, at which point the Court would likely assume any investment return would cease to be received and therefore paid).
The devil is always in the detail. Please feel free to PM me if this detail is something you would rather not share to all on the internet!
"When I was married, my then wife and I were given a chunk of money by my mum for a house deposit"
This makes it a matrimonial gift to both of you on an equal basis.
I assume that you have already been through all Form E disclosure as part of the Ancillary Relief aspect of the divorce process, so there is no way you could claim this gift was in fact a loan (which would have very much worked in your favour as you could have deduced this from the calculations at the time and at a future date your mum could have "converted" the loan into a gift for you alone)?
You still have some options though.
Under the law a contract does not have to be in writing. It is blatantly apparent that this gift came with implied terms that required each party to jointly repay your mum for investment loss on the principle capital.
Your ex wife has demonstrated this undertaking by making such payments until cessation 4 months ago. You should find it very straightforward for the Court to uphold this.
Of course this throws up legal costs and the obvious question as to the intended timeline for this arrangement (as the gift was given in anticipation of a matrimonial home purchase, at which point the Court would likely assume any investment return would cease to be received and therefore paid).
The devil is always in the detail. Please feel free to PM me if this detail is something you would rather not share to all on the internet!
Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff