Advice sought and welcomed

Daidy2011

Bit of a long winded post, please bear with me.

I have been a long time observer on this forum and have found that there are many contributors who have provided sage advice to those in need and I am hoping that some of you can provide some insight into my situation.

Some context:

I have been legally separated since 2009 (initiated by my ex-wife) but due to certain milestones in my youngest child's life (Junior Cert, Leaving Cert etc) I chose not to seek a divorce to ensure my daughter could concentrate on these milestones.

As part of the judicial separation (I was unemployed at the time) the judge ruled that I was responsible to pay 2/3rds of the mortgage on the family home and provide child maintenance payments (1 child) of € 800/month and that the family home was to be sold and any remaining equity was to be split 66/34% in favour of my ex.

Due to the property crash we decided (equally) that we would wait until the market improved as to sell at that time would have been a "fire sale". As we all know the market has now returned to pre-crash levels but my ex is determined not to sell yet she cannot afford to buy me out.

Now to my current situation:

I filed for divorce through my solicitor in May 2016. In January 2017 my ex, through her legal counsel, advised that she intended to provide a defence and counterclaim. The court registrar gave a date of February 17th to lodge the defence - which was not done. The Court Registrar then gave my ex a date of March 6th to lodge her defence, this date was also missed.

In the absence of the defence and counterclaim, my legal counsel filed a motion in the Court Registrar's office to which the Registrar gave another date for filing, that date is July 6th (next Thursday). As I write this no defence has been lodged with the court and my ex's legal counsel has advised my legal counsel that they will not attend the hearing on July 6th as they will be on "2 weeks holiday" and are therefore not available!!

My Legal Counsel will attend the meeting as instructed by the Court Registrar but I expect that this will once again be put on the "long finger" and my ex (and her Counsel) will be given MORE time in which to lodge the defence.

I appreciate that this is clearly a stalling strategy by my ex as she is "fat, dumb and happy" as I continue to abide by the 2009 court order as it relates to the payments.

My question (and I would welcome any advice) what avenues, if any, are open to me that I can accelerate this process and get on with my life or am I at the whim of my ex and the Court.

Mediation at this point in out of the question - there is zero contact between my ex and I.

Thanking everyone in advance for any advice.

Payton

Daidy2011 wrote: »

Bit of a long winded post, please bear with me.

I have been a long time observer on this forum and have found that there are many contributors who have provided sage advice to those in need and I am hoping that some of you can provide some insight into my situation.

Some context:

I have been legally separated since 2009 (initiated by my ex-wife) but due to certain milestones in my youngest child's life (Junior Cert, Leaving Cert etc) I chose not to seek a divorce to ensure my daughter could concentrate on these milestones.

As part of the judicial separation (I was unemployed at the time) the judge ruled that I was responsible to pay 2/3rds of the mortgage on the family home and provide child maintenance payments (1 child) of € 800/month and that the family home was to be sold and any remaining equity was to be split 66/34% in favour of my ex.

Due to the property crash we decided (equally) that we would wait until the market improved as to sell at that time would have been a "fire sale". As we all know the market has now returned to pre-crash levels but my ex is determined not to sell yet she cannot afford to buy me out.

Now to my current situation:

I filed for divorce through my solicitor in May 2016. In January 2017 my ex, through her legal counsel, advised that she intended to provide a defence and counterclaim. The court registrar gave a date of February 17th to lodge the defence - which was not done. The Court Registrar then gave my ex a date of March 6th to lodge her defence, this date was also missed.

In the absence of the defence and counterclaim, my legal counsel filed a motion in the Court Registrar's office to which the Registrar gave another date for filing, that date is July 6th (next Thursday). As I write this no defence has been lodged with the court and my ex's legal counsel has advised my legal counsel that they will not attend the hearing on July 6th as they will be on "2 weeks holiday" and are therefore not available!!

My Legal Counsel will attend the meeting as instructed by the Court Registrar but I expect that this will once again be put on the "long finger" and my ex (and her Counsel) will be given MORE time in which to lodge the defence.

I appreciate that this is clearly a stalling strategy by my ex as she is "fat, dumb and happy" as I continue to abide by the 2009 court order as it relates to the payments.

My question (and I would welcome any advice) what avenues, if any, are open to me that I can accelerate this process and get on with my life or am I at the whim of my ex and the Court.

Mediation at this point in out of the question - there is zero contact between my ex and I.

Thanking everyone in advance for any advice.

Is the motion that your legal team filed for a 'A Motion for judgement in default' ?
Basically you wife and her legal team have been given enough time to answer the case that has been put to them and have failed for what ever reason. Hopefully herself or her legal team don't show up and you case is put onto the judge's list to be heard that day.