Ex-Husband has quit his job

I need some urgent advice please. 4 months ago at the Final Hearing I was awarded a Mesher Order on the FMH until our youngest was 18 (he's 7 now) and global maintenance of £1.5k. My ex-husband wasn't at all happy about this because he thinks I was deliberately not earning enough and tried to appeal but was unsuccessful and since then for the past three months it seemed as though he was complying with the order.

I've got a message from him today to tell me that he handed in his notice the day he was told he couldn't appeal. He's told me the only reason he did the job he did was to be a homeowner and that as that would no longer be possible there's no reason for him to carry on stressing himself out at work. He's also liquidated his share of the pension and claims to have spent it all to go travelling and he also says his parents have offered to support him (they live overseas) so he might "study for a few years" before getting another job. He also said he looks forward to seeing what my earning capacity really is rather than the amount the court says it was

What can I do to enforce the order? My income and benefits is barely enough to cover the mortgage let alone anything else. How can I make him go back to work and earn money to he can pay me my maintenance?

You cannot necessarily force him back to work and nor can the courts BUT you should take immediate steps to enforce the order if he is no longer paying what he was ordered. Quite apart from anything else there is a bar of recovering arrears of maintenance which are more than 12 months old (except with the leave of the court) so it is bad policy to wait. More importantly, in view of the steps your ex husband has taken the court will want to take whatever steps it can in order to remedy that. It could, for instance, remove his Mesher and award the property to you in its entirety to make up for the maintenance he is no longer paying.

You will almost certainly need legal assistance to enforce the order so you would be wise to seek advice as soon as possible rather than allow this situation to continue unchecked.

There is only £50k in equity and he was only awarded 20% on sale. If I have to sell quickly to avoid repossession and pay early repayment charges on the mortgage I won't even get £50k from the sale. My ex-husband did say during mediation that it probably wouldn't be worth his while waiting for the equity.

I really need him back in the UK working and paying maintenance. Is there no way to do that?

>>I really need him back in the UK working and paying maintenance. Is there no way to do that?<<

No. Courts cannot compel people to work. They can try to deal with the consequences of a person choosing to break a court order but they cannot compel people to work. In your particular circumstances if a court is satisfied that your ex husband is deliberately avoiding the periodical payments that were ordered it would very likely cancel the Mesher order in his favour.

Well that's just great

He didn't want the Mesher Order, he wanted to be released from the mortgage and now that I have no income from him I'm going to have to sell up and he will get what he wants. No doubt he will find a new job as soon as this house is sold

The mortgage is more than my outgoings and if I got an interest only mortgage and a government loan through universal credit I would quickly end up in negative equity as there isn't much equity in the house at the moment (which is why I got a Mesher in the first place...)

If I have to sell and then he goes and gets another job after he's released from the mortgage, could I take him back to court and have it ordered that he has to be named on my mortgage before he was able to buy somewhere himself?

>>If I have to sell and then he goes and gets another job after he's released from the mortgage, could I take him back to court and have it ordered that he has to be named on my mortgage before he was able to buy somewhere himself?<<

No. Courts do not have power to make such orders - even if such an order could be regarded as fair which is very doubtful.

So basically what you are saying is that anyone who doesn't want to be the non-resident party in a Mesher Order can just quit their jobs and wait for the house to be sold or re-possessed if the resident party cannot afford the mortgage? Surely that makes a mockery of the court?

How about earning more money or living in a house you can actually afford?
You are getting most of the equity already.

I have already told you that a court will take what steps it can and that there are good reasons why you should apply to the court to adjust or remove the Mesher order if your ex husband deliberately chooses not to pay the periodical payments that were ordered. However, courts do not have the power to do whatever they want. No court can compel a person to work or to take out a mortgage on behalf of another.

Your ex husband is also, of course, acting in what he perceives to be his own interest. Although no lawyer could recommend that he breach a court order your ex husband can act on his own account and/or ignore advice if he wishes.

Okay, so the court has basically given me a set of orders that aren't worth the paper they're written on then. They ordered a Mesher Order because there was very little capital but he had a high income. 20% of the equity for him was about £10k, or about 7 months of his global maintenance payments. He's obviously done the maths and worked out he doesn't care if he loses the Mesher Order.

Oh, and today he's told me he's become a carer for his parents and will be seeking to vary the payments Please tell me he will at least not succeed on this one?

>>He's obviously done the maths and worked out he doesn't care if he loses the Mesher Order.

Then he is only being rational. He can hardly be criticised for being rational. (Although, of course, whether he should be criticised for failing to maintain his children is another issue).

>>Oh, and today he's told me he's become a carer for his parents and will be seeking to vary the payments eye rolling smiley Please tell me he will at least not succeed on this one?<<

It is unlikely IF what you say about him choosing to give up his job voluntarily is correct. On the other hand, if he has no money what can be done about that is another issue. If a debtor has nothing then a creditor can fulminate as much as they want about that but the lack of money remains.

Incidentally, the fact that he is talking about going back to court to vary the order does at least suggest that he is paying something rather nothing.

Oh no, he's paying nothing and says he has nothing. His lovely parents are paying for him to vary the order presumably in an attempt to avoid any debt building up. Sounds like he will fail which is something at least.

Bearing in mind that the court will have the jurisdiction to vary the Mesher if either of you make an application to vary I am surprised he is making it. From his point of view I would have thought he would have been better off waiting to see whether you made the application - which you may or may not have done. And once arrears are more than 12 months old they cannot in general be recovered without the specific permission of the court.

I think he seems to believe becoming a "carer" for his parents is a valid reason to give up work. Ignoring his real "carer" role as provider for me and the children of course

But I think his main motivation is forcing a sale of the house. I suspect he will be back at work the minute he is released from the mortgage. Do you think I would be successful in applying to vary for more maintenance at that point as I will be having to rent rather than pay a mortgage?

>>Do you think I would be successful in applying to vary for more maintenance at that point as I will be having to rent rather than pay a mortgage?

The level of maintenance doesn't just depend upon need. It also depends upon ability to pay and the desirability of a clean break. Since your ex husband's case is essentially that he has no income everything will depend what view a court takes of that.

He has now missed the first payment due and I've had to cover the mortgage with what little savings I have. Would it be an option when I enforce to try and get him found in contempt of court and get him a criminal record?

>>Would it be an option when I enforce to try and get him found in contempt of court and get him a criminal record?

No, not in circumstances such as these.