Ex lives overseas

Hi

My soon to be ex husband lives overseas and has done for past 4 years tax free. I began divorce proceedings last year and it's still ongoing, however he is not paying maintenance. He did for a few months but now won't. Unfortunately the CSA are unable to help as its out of their jurisdiction. He does work for UK company, but obviously he doesn't pay tax in the UK so I can't progress through the CSA. What can I do? We are not on amicable terms and he is a narrsasist and very difficult to talk to.

The advice will depend on where he is overseas and how much he earns.

Also, have you considered all avenues to increase income in the meantime? Full time work, claiming all benefits available etc?

Yes I work full time and not recieving any benefits except the normal child allowance. My ex salary is about £69,000 tax free and is a resident of UAE, but works for a UK company.

Technically you could get a court order from a UK court for maintenance pending suit and - after divorce - child maintenance (and possibly spousal maintenance for a year or two, although if you have been separated for four years it would probably be hard to prove the "need" now) but the trouble with the UAE is that it is extremely difficult to enforce UK judgements there. It's gotten easier in the past couple of years as the UAE will now recognise certain UK judgements but I'm not aware of any maintenance cases being enforced yet and as it is outside of REMO you'd need a specialist lawyer who was willing to go into uncharted territory (or, in other words, a very expensive one).

A better bet would be to ask a UK court for the lion's share of assets that are in the UK and which a UK court can enforce.

I think if he is employed (and paid) by a UK company, it may be worth exploring whether deduction of CM at source is an option. This would mean the company deducts CM from his pay, sends it to CMS and they pay you. Definitely worth asking CMS about.

Hadenoughnow