Big messy seperation issue

dogeyknees

Right, this is quite an issue so i will keep it short and to the point.

My sister is going through a very messy separation and i would appreciate any advice. There are several issues so i will try and keep them seperate.

Background:
Nearly 2 years ago she was forced to move out of her marital home due to intimidation and harassment from her husband (the is a long list and basically the guy is deranged). He had also had affairs and when she refused to sleep with him, well things started getting very perverted. She had a barring order issued but he convinced her to drop it as he wouldn't be able to get a job and therefore pay maintenance - as he was unemployed at the time and she was quite naive, she stupidly dropped it.

Part 1 - the family home:
She has been living in rented accommodation with the 2 kids since she moved out and he has been living in the family home, even though he hasn't payed a cent on the mortgage for nearly 3 years. She cant get a corporation house as technically she is still a home owner and he won't commit to selling the house, he has basically wrecked the house and won't budge on the inflated asking price to ensure prospective buyers won't want it. The banks haven't moved on it due to the new restrictions and when they finally went to court about the house, he told the courts that he had started to pay mortgage only to later transpire that he hadn't (i always assumed that lying in court was perjury or contempt of court?). The court have put the case back another few months to allow him to 'sort out' what is happening with the house. He is also battling to have overnight/weekend visits of the children to ensure that he has a better chance of keeping the house. In the meantime my sister is living hand to mouth in rented accommodation whilst he is living in the family gome and earning over €600 a week.

Part 2 - Maintenance:
He has been ordered to pay maintenance but he keeps contesting the amount and whilst that is happening, he won't pay my sister. This has been going on for nearly 2 years and is making a mockery of the courts. Originally after the first order he started paying cash to my sister and when she declared this to the welfare and they cut her benefits, he then stopped. She then brought it back to courts and said that she wouldn't accept cash and that it had to go through her bank, and since then he has stopped paying her and keeps contesting (I thought that ignoring a court order was contempt?). Now, the court has ordered that it be deducted at source but she still is not getting anything and she has had her benefits cut once more. He has also been ordered to back pay her but he won't as he 'doesn't have the money' yet he bought himself a luxury car - could she lay claim to that?

Part 3: The children
He is looking for overnight/ weekend stays but there is an issue of child safety - this has been raised and documented by counselors and doctors and i cannot go into much detail but he is not the threat. He is only using the overnight stay to assist him in keeping the house.

Basically my sister is stuck in a rut that she cannot get out of until he starts paying maintenance & sells the house. This has been going on for over 2 years and when the court orders something, he ignores and objects to it. He is using the current financial crisis and the measures that have been put in place by the government to ensure that homes are not unnecessary and unjustly repossessed to his benefit. Both he and his solicitor blatantly lie in court and get away with it. The courts seem completely limp and meaningless and he is waltzing around getting it all his own way whilst my sister who is the victim, is being left in the gutter trying to fend for 2 children.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

detective

dogeyknees wrote: »

She had a barring order issued but he convinced her to drop it as he wouldn't be able to get a job and therefore pay maintenance - as he was unemployed at the time and she was quite naive, she stupidly dropped it.

You can't just drop a barring order its an instruction from a district court justice? was it an interim barring order (lasts 15 days i think) and she just didn't apply for the real one? or could it still be in force... they last 3 years.

I believe that there is an ongoing legal issue with maintenance debtor warrants which means nobody is being punished for not paying maintenance nowadays. I'm not sure if this is still the case, other people on this forum may be able to update you/me on this i believe the government is drawing up draft legislation.

Its a rough situation for her. Massive mistake leaving the family home with the kids when she had the opportunity to have a barring order.

FreudianSlippers

Sorry to hear about the troubles, but I have to point out the forum charter: http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054891512

Legal advice is prohibited here, so your best bet is to tell your sister to consult a solicitor and tell him all of the info.

dogeyknees

detective wrote: »

You can't just drop a barring order its an instruction from a district court justice? was it an interim barring order (lasts 15 days i think) and she just didn't apply for the real one? or could it still be in force... they last 3 years.

I believe that there is an ongoing legal issue with maintenance debtor warrants which means nobody is being punished for not paying maintenance nowadays. I'm not sure if this is still the case, other people on this forum may be able to update you/me on this i believe the government is drawing up draft legislation.

Its a rough situation for her. Massive mistake leaving the family home with the kids when she had the opportunity to have a barring order.

To be honest im not too sure about the law in this country but i know that he convinced her to drop it as he wouldn't get a job if he had one, so she did. Whether it was a full barring order or temporary, im not sure.

In regards to leaving the family home, there was no option. She could have stayed but we personally felt there was a very real threat to her safety, and that of her kids, that we couldn't take the chance. My parents had to take her home to ensure their safety and even then, we had to get the local guards on standby as there were threats made to my family for doing so.

She is in a very bad way as she feels completely screwed by the system and he is using loopholes that were made for genuine cases to his advantage. What makes it even worse is that there is a mounting legal bill for all this that she cannot afford to pay and my parents (both retired) cannot pay either - they are using whatever money they can piece together to pay what they can. The original plan was that the sale of the house would cover her legal bill but the fact that she cant sell the house is leaving her at odds with her solicitor.

dogeyknees

OisinT wrote: »

Sorry to hear about the troubles, but I have to point out the forum charter: http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054891512

Legal advice is prohibited here, so your best bet is to tell your sister to consult a solicitor and tell him all of the info.

OK thanks Oisin, didn't realise that.

She has a solicitor but they're not doing a very good job IMO and i was hoping that someone may have some advice.

Will leave it at that so.