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Hi, Does anyone know how long you have to apply to set aside a financial order after the final hearing?
My final hearing was last Monday. I don't feel happy with the settlement although we agreed it within half an hour of arriving at court. The reason I agreed so quickly to my ex's offer was because his solicitor landed a schedule of costs on my barrister at 10pm the night before the hearing, threatening another £26k of costs against me. I felt pressured by this as I only heard about it when I walked into court that morning. I now know this should have been served at least 24 hours before the hearing in order to give me time to make submissions and consider it.
The main reason I am unhappy with the settlement is that my ex refused to have his business valued and as I didn't have a solicitor I didn't know how to officially apply for that. I have emails from him where he states a potential value of the company between £200k-£400k two years ago when we separated and also states I had a 25% share in it.
In his court documents he lied about how long we had been separated and claimed his business was a non-matrimonial asset when in fact for 7 years I supported him and the business while he worked evenings, weekends, school holidays and I took care of the kids and house and everyting else.
This was going to form part of my evidence at the hearing but I felt so threatened by the potential costs order that I agreed too quickly.
Does anyone think I have a chance of getting the order set aside if I provide all evidence to back this up? And how long do I have to do this please?
Many thanks
Replies (1)
I was in similar situation as you. Have you sorted this yet? Regarding the shares, you are legally entitled to those so I believe any time he has paid himself 75% of shares he needs to pay you 25%. If he is a Director of the company then you can legally challenge him. Do you know who the accountants are? You are legally entitled to see the company profits and shares as a shareholder and also these are available on Companies House if a limited company. I was also pressured into a decision due to opposing Counsel 'tactics' just like those you describe. I am now, today, about to apply to the Court to set aside for a different reason but I urge you to contact Citizens Advice AND get 3 or 4 30-minute free advice sessions with different solicitors with prepared questions before each session. You MAY have a chance to set aside as the business is a marital asset and he can't just refuse to have it valued and for it not to be included in the marital pot. I paid just over £1k to have ours valued which was worth it and it was factored in and he had to pay half of the valuation costs. I hope you got half of eachother's pensions? Ask if an application can be made due to 'non-disclosure' of assets or a 'supervening event'. Ask a solicitor in one of the free calls! Let me know how you get on.