Where do I stand?

[AllanKevin]

I hope I have posted this in the right forum, it is after all a matter regarding costs in a divorce.

After a very long winded divorce etc the house sold and my ex wife received 100% of the proceeds, that in itself is a long story and not particularly relevant in this query I have. Though as you can imagine it does smart somewhat as it was my parents house since the early 1970s and It was only after a years marriage everything went wrong.

After the sale my ex wife received approx £100,000 and myself absolutely nothing and not only that but it turns out I still owe her / her solicitors £1450 towards costs. So a few months after the sale I start getting letters demanding I pay the £1450 directly to my ex. As I had come out with nothing from the sale I (in November) agreed to pay but in installments of £450 immediately followed by £200 in Dec, Jan, Feb, March, April. My ex agreed to this in a letter from her solicitor but they added "she would be grateful if I made the payments on the 16th of each month" I did not reply to this but made the payment of £450 straight away and then transferred the first £200 when I had it (31/12/14) In the weeks from the 16th I have had lots of texts / emails from the ex threatening court action etc as I had not made the payment on the 16th. And today I have received a letter from her solicitor stating I have to pay the full amount immediately or they will start court proceedings.

I have done as I proposed..... I paid £450 straight away then paid £200 in December. I didnt reply to them saying "she would be grateful if I paid on the 16th" So at the moment I am tempted to not even reply to her solicitor (as in my mind I have done what was agreed) and if they want to go to court they will be in the wrong? Below I will list the emails and hopefully someone will tell me where I stand.

Me to her solicitor

Dear Mr xxxxxxx,

Thanks for sending the correct statement.


I told Mrs xxxxxxxx by email 2 weeks ago that I was happy to pay any amount owing "albeit by installments" As you are aware I did not receive any funds from the house sale except for the money to pay my debts which of course went straight away.


My proposal is to pay £450.86 straight away followed by 5 monthly payments of £200 (beginning Dec 2014) If you could forward the bank details I can get on with it.


Regards


xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx


Her solicitor to me

Dear Mr xxxxxxxx,

My client accepts your proposal for payment and would be grateful if you could arrange to pay the £450.86 today and then the monthly instalments of £200 on the 16^th of each month, so the first would be the 16^th December. Please could you send her a text message to confirm when you have sent this first payment.

However, she has asked me to be clear that if any of the instalments is missed, she will expect payment in full of any balance owing and reserves her right to pursue this by way of County Court action, which she sincerely hopes will not be necessary.

Please can you make payment to the following account:-

Account number – xxxxxxxx
Sort Code – xx xx xx
Account Name – Mrs x x xxxxxxx

Kind regards
xxxxxx xxxxx




Todays email / letter from her solicitor
Dear Mr. xxxxxxx


RE: Our Client - xxxx xxxxx


Final Letter Before Action


We write further to the agreement made between you and our client in terms of settling an outstanding balance owed by you to our client in respect of costs awards made against you in the course of matrimonial proceedings.
We understand from our client that you have failed to make payment of an instalment of £200 that was due on the 16th December 2014. You will understand that our client had previously made it clear that if any instalments were missed that she would expect payment of the full balance owing immediately, otherwise proceedings would be issued in respect of the balance owing, along with a claim for interest, fixed costs and the Court fees incurred.


It is extremely disappointing to hear that you have not kept to an arrangement that was originally your own proposal. Clearly matters cannot be left to go on indefinitely and our client has now asked us to write to you in the strongest possible terms to urge you to make immediate payment to her of the £1000 still owing, failing which, County Court Proceedings will be issued imminently without further warning to you.


We repeat the warning to you in our last letter, that any judgment obtained against you will severely affect your credit rating.


In the circumstances, we would urge you to make payment to our client of the balance owing without delay. We would respectfully suggest that you take your own independent legal advice in respect of the matter generally and the contents of this letter.

[MissFM]

Re: Where do I stand?

It all looks most unequal and unfair to me, on the face of it.

That aside, you have paid what you said you were going to pay when you said you were going to pay it. You didn't agree to the 16th of the month, just the month.

It's never a good idea to ignore a letter before action and in your shoes I would write to the solicitor, pointing out the factual inaccuracies in his letter and to say that the agreement was as per your original offer, not as they subsequently requested. In any case, it's not £1,000 outstanding but now £800. Try to keep it unemotional, just a bare statement of facts.

I can't imagine any judge being particularly sympathetic to her behaviour (to bring an action on such trumped up grounds seems vexatious) but if she's legally represented and you're not things could be skewed.

It would IMO be wise to take urgent advice from a solicitor on your response. If you get all your ducks in a row beforehand and stick to this particular point it shouldn't be expensive and you may even get the advice you need in the customary free initial half-hour that most solicitors offer.

See what others here think - and good luck. x