Are there financial implications to the divorce proceedings, deid?

Kevin,

No there is no financial implications at all, we have two daughters, one lives with my ex wife and my eldest lives with me. That is the only sorting out we have to do along with the divorce.

Hi deid.

I'm afraid that I know little about legal aid so cannot offer much in that respect.

I think Kevin may have beens wondering if you had joint assets; if so your Trustee would probably have an interest in any divorce agreement.

The Trustee might also have an interest in any payment that either of you ended up having to make to each other as part of a divorce.

Do either of these things seem likely to become relevant?

Hi TDA,

I left my ex wife everything when we separated,we rented our house and had no assets of any value. The point I`m trying to make is I cannot afford a solicitor on what funds I have left every month.
Also my daughter moved in with me a few months after I signed my trust deed, I have not mentioned this to my trustee. The end of my first year is coming up and I assume there will be a review.

deid

Hi deid.

I'm sure there may be a review soon. You'll want to let your Trustee know about your changed circumstances so that your trust deed payment remains affordable.

We were asking about the nature of the divorce as it might have a bearing on how your Trustee would view the situation about paying for legal help. For example, if it would affect your assets or ability to make your monthly payment the Trustee might see a greater reason to help facilitate the payment of legal help costs.

If such costs will be unavoidable for you I think you need to raise the matter with your contact at your trust deed firm and seek their guidance on what might be possible.

Maybe your trustee will allow a reduction in your payments temporarily in return for an extenion of the term

Thanks, I don`t want to reduce my payments as I want to avoid my TD taking any longer than the agreed 36 months.
I will see a solicitor first to see if I am eligible for any financial help towards legal costs. I will then talk to my Trustee. I receive a bonus payment at the end of the year, it may be possible to reduce my monthly payment if I had to and make it back up out of my bonus.

Hi deid.

Normally you would have to pay some or all of your bonus over to your trust deed in addition to the normal monthly payments. That might be a problem in terms of your idea about making payments up via a bonus.

I'd suggest that you check this with your Trustee as well, in some instances it's agreed that the person on the trust deed can keep a percentage of any extra income (like a bonus, commisssion or overtime for example).

If you can keep a proportion of your bonus it would obviously be very helpful.

Hi TDA,

It was agreed that I would contribute one thousand pounds of my bonus towards my creditors per annum and would get to keep the remainder.

deid

That's good news deid, it's great that an arrangement has been put in place to cover this extra income (something we suggest all visitors do before they sign their trust deed for things like overtime, bonus payments or commission).

Hopefully this will encourage your Trustee to show a little flexibility if you need some help at this time.