Freezing Order

My income has been severely impacted by Covid 19. Our daughter has just recently left for university; as such there are costs involved.

I have been selling goods on eBay; Things which we have accumulated over the years and are not being used. Excess goods. I am NOT doing it to hide money, or get out of any financial settlement. However, if all the "stuff" we have in the house is left until we sell the house, it will be a nightmare to dispose of.

Another reason to sell goods is to supplement my income. My wife does not work.

Today I had a couple come to the house, with the intention to purchase a home gym, and weights to the value of £800. While they where here my wife kept coming into the room, shouting at them, telling the couple that I was not allowed to sell any of "our" belongings.

They agreed to purchase the equipment. I offered to deliver and accept cash on delivery, so that they did not need to return to the house.

After they left, my wife told me she was applying for an "emergency freezing order", to prevent me selling "our property which is half hers".

How long does it take to get a freezing order? Is there any action I can take to ensure I have access to cash to continue paying my mortgage, bills, cost of living etc?

My wife is not on any mortgage, credit cards, and only one 1 bank account.

Anything I can do to mitigate the damage a freezing order may have?

There has been a new development.

Tonight I sold a piece of equipment, a Home Gym, and 2" Olympic Free weights. I took a deposit for the item, and agreed to deliver it. I began to dismantle the equipment.

While I was working my wife has hidden some of the parts from the home gym.

I insist that I need proceeds from this sale to continue paying the bills in the house.

Do I inform her solicitor of her actions? And insist that she desist? And return the item immediately? Will that do me any good?

Your wife has a point. She can obtain an injunction to prevent you doing this. Such injunctions can usually be obtained at short notice 'ex parte' - ie in the application of one party without the other being heard. The matter is then adjourned to a full hearing date to enable the other spouse to argue against the injunction if so advised. In practice most people are advised not to waste their time opposing the injunction because they are likely to lose.

If you hope to be able to sell items like this the only way you are likely to be able to do it is with the agreement of your wife by, for instance, agreeing that any money raised be placed in a joint account or preserved until such time as the financial issues between you are resolved finally and formally.

Wow! The law is not fair.

And in the meantime, I keep paying all the bills? In the end she will get at least half of whatever is left. It's crazy that I can't start the process of liquidating our assets.

It's a moot point now anyway. Later that evening, my wife kicked off on me. I pushed her away from me, as she was attacking me. She called the police. I was arrested on common assault.

I will add now, that I have submitted video evidence of her physically assaulting me.

I am currently on bail and not allowed to return to the home I pay for; the home I dreamt of, I bought, and I maintained. Nothing is fair.

So now she lives, in a 6 bed Victorian manor house, which I pay for, cant sell, cant remortgage, full of stuff collected over 20 years, that I can't sell, and that will prevent the sale of the house unless it is just disposed of.

And people wonder why Male suicide rates are high in situations like this.

Ok. Question...can I write to her solicitor, and give her a date when I will stop paying the Bills and the mortgage, suggesting their client begin liquidating assets in the house herself?

I suspect I already know the answer.

There is nothing unfair about this. You behaved in such a way that this was more or less predictable. Almost anyone who saw their spouse disposing of possessions in the course of divorce is not likely to stand idly by.

No, you cannot simply stop paying the bills and the mortgage or, at least, not unless through no fault of your own you have no income from which these outgoings can be met (which does not sound as though it is the case). Until such time as the financial issues arising from the marriage are formally and finally settled the bills and mortgage need to be paid. How they are paid will depend upon who has paid them historically and upon who has what earning capacity. If your wife has an income from which she can easily pay the bills and the mortgage then that is one thing. However, it is quite another if she doesn't and you do.

This is, of course, simply a necessary holding operation which will not last forever. Eventually the house will be sold, the equity and chattels divided between you.

Is it relevant that I was not "disposing of possessions in the course of divorce". I was selling unused items on ebay, in order to fund the family and purchase new items which we would use, in this case to conduct repairs around the house. This is a common practice which I have done for as long as we have been together. The money earned from selling these items has been put towards, new carpeting, new bathroom suite, maintenance, and other matters around the house.

>>Is it relevant that I was not "disposing of possessions in the course of divorce".

Actually, that is exactly what you were doing. You may have done similar things in the past but the fact is that divorce proceedings are now underway and you have been selling items during that period. It is exactly the same as running down a bank account. Once divorce proceedings have been started you are unwise to do any such thing unless it is by agreement with your spouse which appears not to have been the case.

Two weeks ago, we were getting along...

My wife broke her laptop by closing the lid on her phone. We went out and purchased a new laptop at a cost of £500.

So I'm allowed to buy her new things, but not sell old things to pay for them? How does that work?

>>So I'm allowed to buy her new things, but not sell old things to pay for them? How does that work?

Much as it works in all other walks of life. If Gordon Brown gives 'Tax Credits' people who predominantly vote Labour how easy do you think it is to take those credits away again? Or free school meals during during school holidays etc etc. Examples are all around you if you look.