Solicitor trying to take family home

glamourpuss

I wonder if anyone can help. I had a long, drawn out divorce which all concluded some years ago with my ex coming out on top. I ended up with nothing but an enormous legal bill. Throughout the entire process my solicitor was very much aware of my financial situation (working p/t with young kids) but kept going. When the bill arrived I was in shock but not surprised. I have been paying a little off for the past two years and in that time I have had the sheriff to my door, and threats of all sorts from the solicitor. Now I have received notice that this solicitor, through the country registrar is going to try to take my house to cover her costs. Does anyone know if this can happen, despite spending years in and out of court with this case, this situation is totally unknown to me. I am at a loss where to go with this and would appreciate if anyone out there could help at all. BTW I have my kids living with me.

Zambia

The standard you should get a solicitor seems cruel here. But it is sort of true however you might just have to pay the first one.

dats_right

You say your solicitor knew of your financial situation, but more importantly so did you. I don't mean to be harsh here but you instructed your solicitor in a case, which by your own admission dragged out for years, you must have expected this to cost a significant amount of money. Did you not plan for that?

You say that you have been paid a little over the past two years. Do you think it is reasonable to expect the solicitor to have to wait this long to be paid for work they have carried out on your behalf?

Anyway, the situation you describe would tend to indicate that the solicitor has obtained a judgment against you and obtained a judgment mortgage against your family home. If this is the case, the short answer is yes the solicitor can bring Court proceedings seeking the possession and sale of the property.

This is a very serious matter and unless you can resolve it amicably, the reality is that you face a very serious situation with further legal costs escalating all the time (have you explored borrowing the money from bank/credit union/family/friends?). You should seek legal advice from a solicitor regarding this, but expect your new solicitor to be paid in advance when they learn of what the proceedings relate to.

Amazotheamazing

glamourpuss wrote: »

I wonder if anyone can help. I had a long, drawn out divorce which all concluded some years ago with my ex coming out on top. I ended up with nothing but an enormous legal bill. Throughout the entire process my solicitor was very much aware of my financial situation (working p/t with young kids) but kept going. When the bill arrived I was in shock but not surprised. I have been paying a little off for the past two years and in that time I have had the sheriff to my door, and threats of all sorts from the solicitor. Now I have received notice that this solicitor, through the country registrar is going to try to take my house to cover her costs. Does anyone know if this can happen, despite spending years in and out of court with this case, this situation is totally unknown to me. I am at a loss where to go with this and would appreciate if anyone out there could help at all. BTW I have my kids living with me.

If you made reasonable efforts to pay the solicitor then the Court will probably give you a set period of time to pay the bill, get in touch with your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau.

On the otherhand, chances are this isn't a bolt from the blue, the solicitor has presumably been writing to you looking for payment or some sort of payment system for some time. Did you respond to the various "threats of all sorts" over the past few years? If you weren't happy with the bill there's procedures you could have followed to see if it was fair. If you accepted it but subsequently refused to pay it then it's your own luck out.

I don't want to seem unsympathetic, I don't envy anyone who's had to go through what you've been through but ultimately, if someone does work for you (plumber, electrician, dentist or solicitor) they have to be paid, best you can do now is work out the best way to pay the bill.

Zambia

Some say love is like a hurricane wet and wild when your in it and when it leaves it takes your house and car.

glamourpuss

Thanks for all the responses.

Delancey

Not being a smart ass but in this situation would the OP be able to get ANY solicitor to represent them given that this would pit one solicitor against another in the area of unpaid fees ?
I know someone currently experiencing huge difficulties in getting a solicitor to represent her in her separation because ( yes you guessed it ) her husband is a solicitor.

MissHappiness

dats_right wrote: »

You say your solicitor knew of your financial situation, but more importantly so did you. I don't mean to be harsh here but you instructed your solicitor in a case, which by your own admission dragged out for years, you must have expected this to cost a significant amount of money. Did you not plan for that?

You say that you have been paid a little over the past two years. Do you think it is reasonable to expect the solicitor to have to wait this long to be paid for work they have carried out on your behalf?

Anyway, the situation you describe would tend to indicate that the solicitor has obtained a judgment against you and obtained a judgment mortgage against your family home. If this is the case, the short answer is yes the solicitor can bring Court proceedings seeking the possession and sale of the property.

This is a very serious matter and unless you can resolve it amicably, the reality is that you face a very serious situation with further legal costs escalating all the time (have you explored borrowing the money from bank/credit union/family/friends?). You should seek legal advice from a solicitor regarding this, but expect your new solicitor to be paid in advance when they learn of what the proceedings relate to.

Delancey wrote: »

Not being a smart ass but in this situation would the OP be able to get ANY solicitor to represent them given that this would pit one solicitor against another in the area of unpaid fees ?
I know someone currently experiencing huge difficulties in getting a solicitor to represent her in her separation because ( yes you guessed it ) her husband is a solicitor.

Stop scaring the OP, there are people out there with compassion, not just a comulsion to earn money that will help him/her. Definitely speak to as many people as you can FLAC, Citizens advice, etc. If yoy think fees are overstated, you can appeal the amount to the Taxing Master. You should have known what fees were going to be, were you let known this??

If a judgment mortgage has been granted against you, you had your head in the sand because that would not have been ordered overnight. You need to get on top of this as soon as possible.

mikemac

What's with this antiquated title of Taxing Master they have, sounds medieval and not something that's going to be clear to people struggling and looking where to go

But still a good suggestion, info here OP
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/courts_system/office_of_the_taxing_master.html

blueythebear

mikemac wrote: »

What's with this antiquated title of Taxing Master they have, sounds medieval and not something that's going to be clear to people struggling and looking where to go

But still a good suggestion, info here OP
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/courts_system/office_of_the_taxing_master.html

The taxing Master option may not be available as there is case law that states that the bill of costs is deemed accepted if not disputed within a year (and a day I think) of receipt. The OP stated that she is paying off over the last two years. Regardless of this fact, the taxing master would still only analyse the bill for fairness. If this was as long and drawn out a divorce as the OP contends, there are still most likely significant legal fees regardless of this fact.

I am presuming that the OP has received notice that the solicitor has applied for a judgement mortgage in the Circuit Court (you mention county registrar)? If the solicitor wishes to take your house, she would need to apply to the court for a well charging order and this is a very long drawn out process and is never granted on the first application, especially where you have been paying it off the debt. THe judgement mortgage would merely safeguard the solicitors' position in the event that they have to enforce the debt against you. It just means that if the house is sold, the proceeds must be used to pay off the solicitor.

Forcing the sale of a family home is another matter entirely and would require multiple trips to court and the court would be reluctant to force sale of the house where i) it is a family home and ii) you can prove that you are making efforts to pay the debt.

Fordpefect

MissHappiness wrote: »

Stop scaring the OP, there are people out there with compassion, not just a comulsion to earn money that will help him/her. Definitely speak to as many people as you can FLAC, Citizens advice, etc. If yoy think fees are overstated, you can appeal the amount to the Taxing Master. You should have known what fees were going to be, were you let known this??

If a judgment mortgage has been granted against you, you had your head in the sand because that would not have been ordered overnight. You need to get on top of this as soon as possible.

I agree with you misshappiness ,i think most of the other post's are from other solicitor's, I suggest a visit to the citizens advise,My understanding is that a family home cannot be taken from under you, and your solicitor is using bully boy (girl) tactics to scare you, show transparently what your income is then offer a figure which you know you can pay and still live on the balance and suggest you pay this more twelve monthes and then review the situation

Mrs Shuttleworth

blueythebear wrote: »

The taxing Master option may not be available as there is case law that states that the bill of costs is deemed accepted if not disputed within a year (and a day I think) of receipt. The OP stated that she is paying off over the last two years. Regardless of this fact, the taxing master would still only analyse the bill for fairness. If this was as long and drawn out a divorce as the OP contends, there are still most likely significant legal fees regardless of this fact.

I am presuming that the OP has received notice that the solicitor has applied for a judgement mortgage in the Circuit Court (you mention county registrar)? If the solicitor wishes to take your house, she would need to apply to the court for a well charging order and this is a very long drawn out process and is never granted on the first application, especially where you have been paying it off the debt. THe judgement mortgage would merely safeguard the solicitors' position in the event that they have to enforce the debt against you. It just means that if the house is sold, the proceeds must be used to pay off the solicitor.

Forcing the sale of a family home is another matter entirely and would require multiple trips to court and the court would be reluctant to force sale of the house where i) it is a family home and ii) you can prove that you are making efforts to pay the debt.

+1

Glamourpuss, you also have to remember two things:-

1. If the solicitor manages to get an order for sale of the house - which would only occur following multiple trips to Court as the poster above says - she also has to pay 4% Government duty on the sale which would wipe out any financial gain.

2. Do you have a mortgage on the property? If so, the solicitor would have to pay off the mortgage company in full first!! If this is the case, she's not going to do that.

What you need to do is see if you can come up with a lump sum of approximately 50% of what you owe her and see if she'll b*gger off with that in full and final settlement of your bill.

Sleep easy.

MissHappiness

Mrs Shuttleworth wrote: »

+1

Glamourpuss, you also have to remember two things:-

1. If the solicitor manages to get an order for sale of the house - which would only occur following multiple trips to Court as the poster above says - she also has to pay 4% Government duty on the sale which would wipe out any financial gain.

2. Do you have a mortgage on the property? If so, the solicitor would have to pay off the mortgage company in full first!! If this is the case, she's not going to do that.

What you need to do is see if you can come up with a lump sum of approximately 50% of what you owe her and see if she'll b*gger off with that in full and final settlement of your bill.

Sleep easy.

This is more or less what I said in my original post, but I didn't assume the solicitor was a "she"!!!!! This is one case you'd actually want to be in negative equity, best of luck to the solicitor that can sell at a profit.

OP, don't stress too much, unless you've had your head in the sand and ignored all correspondence, it cannot possibly be as bad as you think it is. Stick your ground, fight it out. Banks are far less forgiving than courts at the mo!! Best of luck, if anyone deserves it, you do.