Application for costs

[Photega]

My ex's solicitor sent me a letter which seemed quite reasonable suggesting that as I still haven't had the pension information required due to the complexity of my pension situation that we ask the court to adjourn the Financial Dispute hearing due this Friday, as this seemed sensible approach to which I wrote back confirming my agreement.
The following day I get another letter, this time saying that as it is "My Fault" the hearing cannot go ahead she will be asking the court to apply cost's against myself..
Now this feels wrong, I would dispute that this is my fault as I do not know the processes of getting the required values and as these are very convoluted as they involve things like War Disablement Pensions which is really a compensatory payment and has no accumulated value and other employment has taken much of my past pensions into the one scheme, most of these accumulated before we were married and indeed I would argue that my first wife would have a claim against the earlier pension and indeed because we divorced on amicable grounds we had a personal agreement that when I start to receive my military pension whatever I receive each month I will give her 25% of as she was unable to have a career during my military career due to the regular moves we had to make.
Can the court really apply costs against me for this when getting these figures sorted are outside of my control?

[Peridot]

Hi Photega,
So you have contacted the various pension administrators and requested the information but they are being slow in providing the details or have you not requested the information?
The solicitor that asked whether to adjourn the FDR is that your solicitor or your ex's? Depending on the reason for the delay in providing the outstanding information will dictate whether a costs order is likely to be made. I would suggest if you have done everything you could have to get the info in preparation for the hearing then each party should be responsible for their on costs of the hearing. What costs are they saying are wasted if there is an agreement to adjourn in any event? Any preparation for the FDR has to be done anyway even if it is postponed so what costs are they alleging have been incurred that are 'wasted'?

[Photega]

Hi Photega,
So you have contacted the various pension administrators and requested the information but they are being slow in providing the details or have you not requested the information?
The solicitor that asked whether to adjourn the FDR is that your solicitor or your ex's? Depending on the reason for the delay in providing the outstanding information will dictate whether a costs order is likely to be made. I would suggest if you have done everything you could have to get the info in preparation for the hearing then each party should be responsible for their on costs of the hearing. What costs are they saying are wasted if there is an agreement to adjourn in any event? Any preparation for the FDR has to be done anyway even if it is postponed so what costs are they alleging have been incurred that are 'wasted'?

Hi Peridot
It is my Ex's solicitor. They claim not being in a position to give the pension information means they have wasted time and the time of the court and as such it is the court costs which they put at £155 plus their costs preparing which they put at £200+vat they are asking the court to order I pay
The Pensions are very complicated. My current employer was taken over by another company in October so there is a lot of confusion as to who to contact as there is transition and transfer going on for over 2500 employees to the new company scheme, then there is my local government pension scheme where I had transferred in lots of my old pensions which were earned from employment before we were married, I also have a military pension which was earned before we were married and when my first wife and I divorced as this was much more amicable I agreed with her that when I received my military pension I would give her 25% of the payments I received as she had not been able to have a career due to moving around all the time with my career.
A further issue is I was medically discharged from the Armed Forces and was awarded a War Disablement Pension, her solicitors are claiming a share of this but this does not have a transferable value as such, it is a compensatory payment made each month for leaving with medical issues that limit the work I can do thus restricting earning potential, an income which for the last 18 years she and my 2 stepchildren had financial advantage of but how a value can be placed on this seems impossible to quantify.
The difficulty is that as I am representing myself as the cost of employing solicitors was spiralling out of control whilst trying to afford to keep a roof over my head and pay off family debts I was left with leaves me with the unenviable position where her solicitors are taking advantage of the fact I do not know whether their threats for claims for not only these costs but they claim I should be paying all her costs, giving her 50% equity from the house and paying her maintenance all of which to me as a layman and indeed others I talk to seem grossly unfair
Thanks for your advice here on such matters which hopefully give me an understanding of what is expected.

[Peridot]

Hi Photega,

Apologies for delay, all laid low with nasty lurgy over the Christmas break. I'm not sure I understand where the delay in relation to the pension info request has come from. You appear to indicate that it is the obtaining of your ex's pension details that have caused the delay, not your pension details in the post above where I thought it was your pension details that were holding the process up?. If it is the case it is your ex's pension that is the issue then I'm unsure why her lawyers would ask you to pay her costs for the cancelled hearing? If the delay has been caused your side then that is usual. However if no work has been completed her end, such as instructing a barrister or something specific to the hearing itself I am also slightly confused why they would claim the additional sum over and above the hearing fee. Are you able to prove that the details have been requested and it is the pension provider that has taken the time? If that is the case then it may be something that you could negotiate as far as wasted costs is concerned.

Your situation is complicated with respect to the war disablement pension and previous arrangements with your first wife. Did you have a consent order prepared following your first divorce or is this just an agreement you reached between the two of you? If there is no consent order then you may have difficulties although the arrangements should be included in your case relating to this divorce of course.

As I'm sure you know the starting point for divorce settlements is 50/50 which is then considered further looking at the s25 factors which include length of marriage, children, earning capacity etc. I believe I have posted the link to s25 factors on another post of yours but here it is again if needed:- http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1973/18/section/25 All these factors would be considered by the Court if they had to decide the settlement. I would really encourage you to get some face to face advice on the situation and to enable you to see what options could be considered whether for example you retaining your pension meant that your ex should receive a slightly bigger % of the house. I am not suggesting this is a solution, just an illustration of what could be considered.