Final Hearing

Hi, final hearing is May 25th, I have tried everything to avoid this and negotiate but my ex and her solicitor will not respond to any correspondence. She has lied, not given full disclosure, constantly late with filing, hidden assets etc. I am surprised she wants to be cross examined in court and will not negotiate a settlement.

My question is regarding the outcome of the final hearing and I would like to ask for opinions on whether the indication made by the Judge at the FDR is usually similar to the outcome at final hearing. I appreciate that it is a different Judge etc, but is this usually the case?

Any thoughts or advice welcome. Many thanks.

Sorry I forgot to mention that the Judge indicated that this was a needs case and as she is living in the FMH I need to be provided for as in a 3 bed house for me and my 2 children when I have them. Marital pot is around £300K but she is due to inherit £650k very soon. The Judge's indication was £275k to me as settlement. She would then keep the FMH and continue to live there and both needs met.

It is rare for the judge at FDR to be very far off the mark. The inheritance isn't part of the pot for division but it is a resource to which she has recourse to meet housing needs. As such she doesn't need much from the matrimonial pot.
What is her proposal?? Have you put in an open offer in line with the guidance from the judge at FDR?

Hadenoughnow

Many thanks for the response, yes that's pretty much what the Judge said. Inheritance is not normally considered but as this is a needs case it can be to a certain extent. She is living in the FMH living a millionaire lifestyle while I am in my parents spare room struggling (where the kids and I stay when I have them). I'm certain she has an awful lot more money from inheritance than she has disclosed. Her offer before the FDR was £95k after the Judge's indication of £275K (to buy a 3 bed house, 5 - 10 miles away from the FMH where prices are lower) she increased to £215k which is her open offer. Last week on my Solicitors advice I submitted a without prejudice offer of £280k which expires tomorrow in the hope of avoiding the final hearing. I believe we have to submit an open offer on 11th May and my Solicitor advises we go in with a slightly higher offer. I also have to provide details of 6 suitable 3 bed houses along with disclosure by the 11th May.

Further to the above, the only reason I can think that she wants to go to a final hearing is that she may say that her inheritance is going to be less and that will hopefully mean less for me, but me sol has said that it doesn't change the fact that it is a needs case.

Hi,
Final hearing was yesterday so wanted to post what happened as this forum really helped me over the past year.

After almost 18 months of her ignoring all attempts at settlement, she instructed her barrister to try to settle with me in the court waiting room 5 minutes before the hearing was due to start.

The final settlement was a bit more than my last WP offer, which I insisted on as getting to the FH cost me an extra £7k in legal costs.

Once agreed and the order written by my barrister we had to go before the Judge to get his approval/seal, this is the part that surprised me. At the FDR I thought that the Judge was on my side and hence he gave an indication of £275K. The Judge yesterday was clearly not on my side and said when we went before him that upon reading the notes that I had blown everything out of proportion and would have discounted a lot of my evidence, as such he might not have reached the figure we settled on without hearing the cross examination. After we left the court my Barrister said that yesterday was my lucky day as he thought the Judge's settlement would have been lower. So it just shows that once in the hands of a Judge nothing is certain, it depends on that individual.

The settlement was £252,500 and £23,000 in Jewellery. She got the FMH, and is bound to pay the mortgage and bills until she redeems the mortgage once she gets inheritance. Legal costs £17,000, I had my Barrister at every hearing. This was at the Birmingham family court and I can wholeheartedly recommend my Solicitor and Barrister if anyone is looking for recommendations please contact me.

Best Wishes

R

Hey. I am going through this process and my solicitors are costing so much. Could you share the details of your solicitor / barrister? I am Leicester based. Thank you.