Confused about a new debt after divorce

Hi Everyone

I'm hoping you can shed some light on a worrying situation. I've just received a legal letter chasing a debt (£21,000) of the last two years of private school fees for my ex's child even though we divorced before the debt was incurred. The legal letter has also shared an acceptance form we both signed in 2017 form that states both 'parents' are jointly and separately liable for the debt.

* We divorced and our financial order was signed in 2019 with a Clean Break: capital and income and no ongoing responsibility for my ex or the child.
* The child was not my own however during the short marriage he lived with us when together.
* The not paid term fees are from 2020 to 2022 (six terms) so after the divorce.

HELP???

Am I liable at all for this??

Many thanks, and happy Sunday!

In principle you are liable. Any financial order made in the family court does not oust a contractual liability.

What you need to do is look at your financial settlement and see if the school fees were mentioned there. I think there is a decent argument to say that at the point that you had a clean break the responsibility for your ex's child's school fees became theirs. However, that alone won't prevent the debt from being enforced so you need to act quickly.

Charles

Firstly, thank you Charles for the response, it's genuinely appreciated.

The school fees were discussed only to the point that I never agreed with the principal of her child going to private school and therefore never paid anything during our marriage towards it. Can't believe the school let her child attend for 2 years without receiving a penny towards the fees!!

Thanks, John