French national living in Uk being chased for post divorce debt and pension advice please

[mccgirls]

Sorry for the long title but can anyone offer any help or advice?

My partner who is french has been living in Uk since 1999 following a messy divorce. Pension (child support) for his two children now mid 20's was agreed through the courts and he paid plus extra as a gesture of good will until he was made redundant in 2009 when he informed her of situation. 6 months later when he found new employment his youngest was by then in work and so independent. Never heard any more from ex wife until now!..

A month ago a court summons turns up from france with a court date in france later this year regarding the pension not being paid. He has contacted his ex to try and sort out without going to court as he know's he owes her 6 months payment although she is asking for 12 months.

 

The most concerning thing and reason for my post is she is also saying she wants £2000 euros for a private school she put one of their children in in 2005 which he did not agree to and she never applied to have the pension increased for this amount, can she claim this from him?

 

Also she is saying he owes her 5500 euros for debt dating back to 1999 and before, that is outstanding.( I think she has paid it but claiming back from him) He does not know what this debt is and has paid over and above for years as mentioned above to cover any outstanding bills. Can she claim this from him? I have been reading about "Statute Barred" on other posts and wondered if this would apply between individuals?

 

In total she is asking for 10,000 euros, he is not in a position to pay anything like this and I am worried about court costs also. We worked it out to be about 1000euros owed?

 

The most frustrating thing is he is an excellent father always maintained contact with his children and paid to support them, seing them regularly 2/3 x each year despite the distance. On the other hand my ex husband lives 20 miles down the road and hasnt seen our daughter for 15 years and never paid a penny and done everything possible via the CSA to avoid payment!!

Not sure what to do here but feeling very frustrated, do we just go to court and fight it out??

Thanks for any advice

[unclebulgaria67]

Think your partner will need to see a Lawyer who has knowledge of the French court/legal system for dealing with these issues. He may be able to see a Lawyer in the UK who can advise on this, as there are firms in the UK who deal with foreign courts. If you contact the Law Society they may have a list of UK based lawyers who can help.

 

There is also the issue of not knowing what was previously agreed by a court in regard to any settlement between the two and how long any specific measure lasts. It may be time to renegotiate the settlement to take into account your partners current circumstances. It sounds like his ex is trying it on.