contempt of court.

Hi to all and new to the site,

I have a question.

contempt of court, my mother is going through a divorce with my stepfather, he has a legal representative (solicitor) my mother doesn't. she is using a McKenzie friend.
To cut a long story short, they have been to court and we were given dates to submit answers to each other by, such as what was his address, who he is renting from, and so on.
Everything we have answered, we have submitted documentation to support what we have done, and so on.
At the top of the court paper, we received it said we should meet these dates or we could be held in contempt of court, so we have battled through and got everything that was asked.
the only problem now, we haven't received the other side's answers to our questions and tomorrow will be two weeks from the deadline even though we have asked for it multiple times.
So wouldn't this mean that they could or should be held in contempt? who would it be to make this happen? my mother can't afford legal aid and I am helping her the best I can.

cheers.

Andy

Hoq long have you got until the next hearing??
In practice deadlines in family law financial proceedings can be a bit fluid. It may not be too much of a problem if it doesn't affect the next hearing.
If requests for a date for receipt of the answers are not receiving a response it may be that her ex has not paid a bill or that the solicitor is no longer instructed.
I would write to check they are still representing xxx. State that if they are, they should make their client aware of the consequences of failure to comply with a court order. Set a deadline (say 7 days) for a response giving a clear indication when the answers will be forthcoming (or set your own deadline for the answers). Say that if you do not get that/anwwers are not receved, you will have to make an application to court for enforcement and claim costs.

Hadenoughnow

Thank you for getting back to me, I am sorry it has taken me so long to reply.

My mum's next court date is not until December, what gets us, is we are acting on our own and we are making the dates set out,

We didn't know my mum needed to get her paperwork in till 3 days before the date set by the court, and we had to ask for an extension so by a week, because the other side didn't send us the paperwork, we made it clear to the court what had happened.

While my mum was in court there was a ruling stating that there would be no undertaking of her pension, which now the other side keep saying that my mum can't take her pension. I have contacted the courts who have written back stating that my mum would have to only give a month's notice, and she could take her pension we gave them two months' notice. . this is Again ignored by the opposition, and is still stating that if my mum takes her pension she will be depleting her asset.
Our Mckenzee friend is a trained barista who helps us a lot, and she was in court with my mum and has said that it is just bullying tactics and my mum can retire with no problems.
My mum has been on long-term sick due to the stress from the whole divorce and was meant to retire last year but because of waiting for the courts to say she could, she has had to wait another year, bringing her to 66 years old.
The opposition wanted a pension actuary, which the judge didn't see the point in one, but they pushed, the judge stated that if they wanted one they had to pay all costs and it wouldn't really have a bearing on the case. This is where the op keeps saying to us now that there is an undertaking, which clearly, even stated by the courts in an email sent to them that there is not one.
It's so frustrating as in the last email they sent us, they are really pushing, by telling us they will put a freezing order in place. I have talked to the court and they then have told me that, there is no undertaking, I just don't understand what or how I should reply to his email.

thanks for helping it means a lot to me as I am trying to help my mum but I am not legally trained. and I am at my witsend

What does the court order say? Has an undertaking been recorded??

If the judge said that a month's notice was needed, that would be sufficient time for an application to be made to prevent her taking the pension if appropriate.

Even if she did take the pension, a pension share may still be ordered if it is reasonable.

I would suggest that any lump sum is held pending settlement.

Is your mother's pension bigger than her ex's??

Make sure you read the court order carefully and understand what needs to be done and when ahead of the next hearing. Once you have financial disclosure it may be wise to book a fixed price legal financial consultation to check what a fair settlement could look like.

Hadenoughnow

Hi hadenoughnow.

Thanks for getting back to me,

The Judge ruled No Undertaking of the pension. this was recorded and we have the court document that came after the hearing. But they still insist there is an undertaking.

My mum's pension including lump some sits at about 240 thousand whereas his sits at 88 thousand. he is 9 years younger than my mum.

He is a benefactor of a house when his dad dies, which he didn't declare and we had to put it to the courts, which he has asked for this to be ring posted. he then said the value of the property is £140000, but we have had it valued and it's sitting at around £190000. when his dad passes it would be split 3 ways.

Taking the house into consideration the money that they both have, pension, his wage, and houses it is about even, around £20000 in my mum's favor.

My mum is still living in the family home and has paid all the bills, whereas he hasn't paid anything ever, the lump sum was there to pay the house off.

She gets her pension, but it doesn't meet her needs to pay the bills, so she is having to use some of the lump sum to add to paying her mortgage payments.
and with the cost of living going up she will need it to help pay other bills too.

We both understand that the pension could be shared,

We have had to get a mortgage raising capacity for the courts, to see if my mum could get a mortgage, which we received bad news, that she wouldn't be able to lend money on the income she is receiving now she has retired.

So she is now worried because if she is made to sell the house then she wouldn't be able to get another home to live in.

We have taken advice, and with the order of the court and what our legal advisor said, we could spend the lump sum and there is nothing they can do about it as it was ordered by the court.

We won't do that, but it is stressful as we see it as none of the opposition side business what happens to the pension.

cheers