Pension Share remains unpaid

I was awarded a pension share from my ex husbands pension when the divorce went through. Unfortunately he used his solicitor to draft the heads of agreement and rather than bill me for 50% of the cost they billed me for 50% of his entire legal bill which I refused as that would mean I was assisting his defence against my financial claim. The solicitors advised that my bill would wipe out the pension share so I may as well not bother claiming it! There was also an element of false information regarding childcare and the solicitor simply refused to amend anything and claimed I would need to apply to the court. I took this to the ombudsman but because the solicitor was not acting for me directly (even though they were billing me for services provided) the ombudsman refused to intervene. Where do I stand in obtaining the share that was awarded to me and potentially the loss of growth over that time since 2019?

If you had solicitors acting for you at the time then you should consult a new solicitor to examine whether you have a potential action for negligence against your former solicitor. If what actually happened is that you did not use your own solicitor but instead signed paperwork that was prepared by your ex husband's solicitor then you are in a much more difficult position.

Also, it not quite so simple as not claiming the pension share because the pension share would be wiped out by the costs for which you are liable. The two are separate and can only be linked if there is a formal agreement to that effect. If there is no such agreement then each claim is free standing. It is also perhaps worth pointing out that if you have not paid the costs then they will be entitled to interest (which is likely to be at the rate of 8% per annum since 2019).

You need to take proper legal advice on your situation in order to decide what, if anything, you should do from here.