Angela Brown
SAS Daniels LLP Solicitors MY husband came to live in my house when we were married 16 years ago. He only ever gave me housekeeping money, never contributed towards the mortgage, and has now run up debts of £10,000. My divorce papers are about to come before the court. When will I find out how much, if anything, I have to pay my husband, and when can I change the locks? THE court won’t become involved in sorting out your finances unless asked to do so by either one of you. If your husband wants some money from you, and you don’t agree, he will have to apply to the court for a financial relief hearing. Your assets will be divided according to a number of factors: the needs of the parties, the length of the marriage, contributions made and so on; if debts are considered to be a matrimonial debt, they can also be divided, so if your husband’s debts were incurred while he was living with you, you could be responsible for some of those too. If the property is in joint names your husband will have a right to live in the house until the finances are sorted out; if it is in your sole name he will have a spouse’s right of occupation until the decree absolute.
WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE
DURING a recent gale a large ash tree in our garden fell across the river taking with it a couple of trees on the opposite side. The Environment Agency pulled our tree out from the far bank because it was more accessible and cut it into logs, but our neighbours across the river have taken the wood. Who does it belong to? IF it was your tree the logs belong to you. However, your neighbours across the river could ask you for compensation for the damage to their own trees, so unless the wood was very valuable you may be better off letting the matter rest. It’s possible you will receive a bill from the Environment Agency in any case. WE know we were named in the will of a friend who died recently, but one of his distant relatives has taken charge and sent me and my daughter just £100 each. We think we were left more than that. The relative won’t let us see a copy of the will. Assuming the deceased’s estate was large enough to require a grant of probate you should be able to acquire a copy of the will from the District Probate Registry. If necessary the relative can be ordered to produce the will in court. If the executor of your friend’s will hasn’t distributed the estate according to his wishes you can sue him for your rightful legacy. You don’t say why you expected more. It’s possible there wasn’t enough in the estate to distribute the legacies in full. I LIVE on the ground floor in a block of flats. For the past year I have been harassed by my neighbour above who leaves her washing machine on the spin cycle for several hours each day. The noise is horrific and I am almost out of my mind. MANY older blocks of flats have little or no soundproofing. It’s worth checking your leases for a restriction against noise. If there is such a clause you should require your landlord to enforce the restriction on your behalf. Alternatively you could try to reach an arrangement with your neighbour so that she uses the washing machine when you are out. Placing some layers of carpet or other sound-proofing material under the machine can work wonders too.
Call SAS Daniels LLP Solicitors on 0161 475 7676 or 01625 442 100. Visit www.sasdaniels. co.uk If you have any legal questions, write to Weekly Law and You, MEN Media, Mitchell Henry House, Hollinwood Avenue, Chadderton OL9 8EF, or email mail@lawQs. co.uk