Outcome of my final hearing

I thought I'd share the outcome of my final hearing, as I feel that not many people share the outcome on here. I was awarded 85% from the sale of the house and £600pcm spousal maintenance. It'll start once the house is sold. No costs were awarded, so I'll have to use the money from the equity I get from the sale of the house to pay my debts back. My ex husband hid assets, "loaned friends money", "borrowed money", lied about his income and never provided full and frank disclosure. Additionally, I recently learned that he purchased a home, after forcing me into taking a mortgage holiday on the FMH that has been sold subject to contract. On day one, he was cross examined by my barrister and he could barely answer the questions put to him. He was caught up in his lies and at one point the judge said "you've told me four different stories regarding that payment, I'll give you one last go." The judge was very proactive to the point he googled a company from my ex's bank statement (during the hearing) that he had claimed to use to purchase something for his father abroad and identified that it was his dad's company. He got caught out on so many lies that I caught second hand embarrassment and cringed. The judge also calculated his true earnings as he said he earned £700+pcm but his average salary was £100k+. On day two of the hearing,the outcome was that I was awarded 85% of the equity from the sale proceeds of the FMH and I was awarded spousal maintenance of £600pcm until my child is 18 or I remarry. I accumulated around £20k of debts on credit card due to legal fees, my barrister asked if fees could be awarded but he said I should use money from the sale proceeds. It wasn't the outcome I exactly wanted as whole, but it was much better than I expected and close to my open offer. FYI: I submitted my divorce application May 2020, Nisi was pronounced June 2020, Absolute granted in April 2021. I applied for the child arrangements order August 2020. First hearing was Jan 2021, Second hearing was March 2021 and Final hearing June 2021. I applied for the financial remedy application August 2020, FDA was March 2021, FDR was June 21 and Final Hearing Jan 2022.

Well done - it sounds as if this was a difficult process (it's bad enough when everyone's amicable!). It sound as if your ex husband's attempts at deception didn't get him very far

Great news for you. Which court did you use? I ended the relationship in December 2016, submitted my Form A in September 2019, FDA January 2020, FDR August 2020 (vacated the day before), FDR March 2021, Final Hearing January 2022 (vacated the day before), now Final Hearing is supposed to be 6th September 2022! She is unwilling to have a private hearing and the delays work in her favour. It's so painful and expensive!!

Is it possible to apply to list the/a [Final] hearing at another court?

It was extremely painful and mentally it took a huge toll on me. Honestly the judge saw right through him and the outcome was very close to my open offer excluding the global maintenance, as I didn't think I'd get any. All in all I'm pleased with how it went.

The court that was used was Guildford. If I were you I would write to your MP to ensure that the next hearing is fixed. Following my FDR and finding out that I had a 7 month wait, I wrote to my MP to see if they could move the case to a court with a shorter wait time. I was told that they had tried to look for alternatives but they all had similar wait times, so instead they fixed my final hearing. It's worth asking, if you don't ask, you don't get. A private hearing is more pricey, so I can understand if another party is worried about costs. The whole process is expensive as it is. I really do wish you the best

Hi there. Appreciate this is an old thread, replying in case you get a notification if it (and hope that’s ok with time having passed and hoping you’ve healed after).

I wanted to ask as to the maintenance outcome - was this something petitioned for or that the judge introduced during proceedings (or that you requested during proceedings)? Asking as I am awaiting FDR with a relatively straightforward division of assets (he says) - both ex and I work and although my wage is roughly double, my application has been only to divide proceeds of sale of the FMH and pension pots. In a statement submission, ex has asked for spousal maintenance. I’ve been told by a few people this is ‘highly unlikely’ or will ‘never happen’, so in curious in cases where it is awarded as to how it comes about.


If you get this and have chance to reply, thanks in advance.

Hi BNorton,

Thanks for your message. It's been 2 years since I posted this, so was surprised to see i had been messaged about it.

I don't recall petitioning for the maintenance, it was the judge who felt it would be fair to do so. It's important to note that it wasn't wholly spousal maintenance but it was global maintenance (which is a combination of child maintenance and spousal) and I was told that if I pursued child maintenance (cms) whatever I was awarded by cash would be deducted from the set global maintenance amount I was awarded in court. E.g. if my global Maintenance amount was 800 and cms awarded me 500, he would only have to pay me the remaining 300, as he would be paying 500 already through CMS.

I would say spousal maintenance is a rarity, but it all depends on the judge you get on the day.

I hope that helps.