IN THE FAMILY COURT

SITTING AT MANCHESTER Case no. 20D7791

BETWEEN

JANET GREEN
Applicant

and

SIMON PAUL GREEN

Respondent

INSTRUCTIONS TO COUNSEL TO
ADVISE THE APPLICANT IN
CONFERENCE.

Counsel will receive herewith:

1. Court Bundle containing all the necessary paperwork ( Students should note that
for the purposes of this exercise this has not been reproduced. All necessary
information as regards the case and financial assets can be obtained from
documents 2 and 3 below).
2. Attendance Note with Mrs Green.
3. Draft Schedule of Assets

Instructing Solicitors act on behalf of Mrs Green of 17 St. James Road, Manchester, M45
2XB in relation to financial remedy proceedings. The Respondent resides at 27 Windmill
Drive, Manchester M45 2RB. The Applicant is 37 years of age and the Respondent is
42.

Counsel will note that the parties were married on the 16 June 2010 and separated on
the 2 November 2020 as a result of the Respondent’s adultery. Divorce proceedings
were issued on the Applicant’s behalf on 3rd December 2020, Decree Nisi was
pronounced on 6 th June 2021 and decree absolute on 10 th August 2021. The parties
attended mediation on the 9th September 2021 in relation to the finances but
unfortunately no agreement could be reached.

As a result the Applicant commenced the financial remedies proceedings by filing her
Form A in October 2021 and normal directions were given for the filing and exchange of
Form E’s ( not reproduced for this exercise). The First Appointment took place on 13th
December 2022 which resulted in some limited further disclosure as regards liabilites
and the extent of Mr Green’s interest in the company of which he is a salaried Director.
None of this disclosure has altered the financial picture as set out in the Form E’s
although the Respondent did provide a letter from his parents stating that their intention
was that the £10,000 contribution towards the former matrimonial home was a loan and
not a gift. A date for the Financial Dispute Resolution (‘FDR’) was also listed on 25
January 2022.
There are three children of the family, Thomas (born 7 November 2019), Julia (born 1
January 2017) and James (born 9 November 2014). Thomas is cared for at home by a
nanny, Fiona Smith. Julia and James attend the local primary school and Fiona is
responsible for the older children after school until Janet returns home from work. The
eldest child James has been diagnosed with dyslexia and Mrs Green is looking into
whether he would be best supported in a private school environment.

Mrs Green is employed by Manchester City Council as an accounts clerk. She has
worked throughout the marriage and also looked after the household. She is currently
part time working for 25 hours per week. Mrs. Green’s former husband is employed by
Greens of Gelding as a company director.

Mrs Green and the children reside in the former matrimonial home which was bought in
2008 in joint names. The property has been valued at £395,000 and is subject to
amortgage with Nottshire Building Society under which £75,000 remains due. Mr.
Greens’ parents gave Mr and Mrs. Green £10,000 towards the purchase however Mrs.
Green does not accept that this was a loan. There is an endowment on the property
linked to the mortgage with Pennywise Life Assurance Society with a surrender value of
£25,000.

Presently the mortgage on the Matrimonial Home is being paid for by Mr. Green. He is
also providing maintenance for all of the children in the sum of £500 per month under a
written maintenance agreement. Mrs. Green pays for all the utilities, however Mr. Green
provides £100 per month towards this amount and has been doing so since he left the
FMH on the 2nd November 2020.

Mr Green currently resides with his parents but is very keen to move out and obtain
accommodation suitable to allow overnight contact with the children. Mr Green seeks an
order for sale and division of proceeds on the basis that there is sufficient equity to meet
the parties housing needs. His Form E states his housing needs as a three bedroomed
property (exhibiting property particulars between £240,000 to £280,000) and his
mortgage raising capacity at around £215,000. He has conceded that on a needs basis
Mrs Green is likely to require a larger proportion of the proceeds but on that basis
opposes any pension share or offsetting . He opposes payment of spousal periodical
payments and seeks a capital and income clean break. He argues Mrs Greens mortgage
raising capacity is £75,000 and that housing needs could be met by purchasing a smaller
property than the FMH and similar to his ie. 3 bedrooms. His position is that if Mrs Green
downsizes her outgoings can comfortably be met by her income together with child
maintenance.

Mrs. Green would like to be able to remain in the former matrimonial home with the
children at least until they are 18. Ideally she would like the property transferred into her
sole name and Instructing Solicitors have also discussed the possibility of a Mesher
Order . She seeks spousal periodical payments to enable her to do so . Her position in
relation to future earning and mortgage raising capacity is set out in the attendance note.

Mrs Green feels that she is entitled to set off the value of Mr. Green’s pension to at least
equalise the capital pension provision. It has been built up entirely during the marriage
at the expense of her own. The parties enjoyed a reasonable standard of living during
their marriage. They earned enough to enable them to live comfortably.
The parties have been able to agree contact and other arrangements for the children for
the most part. In terms of child maintenance, Mr Green has agreed in principal to
increase this to approximately £940 per month in line with what would be assessed by
the Child Maintenance Service. Mrs Green would like to explore the possibility that child
maintenance also includes payment of school fees for James if he were to attend a
private school.

Counsel is asked to advise the applicant in conference prior to the FDR to discuss her
position on merit and suggested settlement options. Counsel will also be briefed to attend
at the FDR.

Should Counsel require further information he/she is required to contact Instructing

Solicitors.

17 January 2022

PRICE PRIOR LLP

Solicitors for the Applicant
 ATTENDANCE NOTE
Attendees: Richard Burgess Matter Name: Green v. Green
Matter Ref: RB/4598

The Applicant’s biggest concern is what is going to happen to the former matrimonial home.

Ideally the Applicant would like to remain in the matrimonial home although she recognises that
she can’t really afford to maintain the mortgage repayments without help from the Respondent.
The valuation of £395,000 was agreed.

As the Applicant needs to ensure that any settlement will provide her and the children with a
home, she would like the Respondent to pay her legal costs so that she can apply the whole of
her settlement to the family’s needs.

The Applicant would be prepared to compromise to a certain extent and agree to sell the
matrimonial home if she had to but contends that she will need most if not all of the equity in
order to buy suitable alternative accommodation for herself and the children.

The Applicant wants to remain in the Manchester area and will argue that the only suitable
accommodation costs at least £300,000 for a 3 bedroom property. She accepts that there might
be difficulty finding a suitable 4 bedroom property although properties on the outskirts of
Manchester are cheaper. Four bedroom properties on the outskirts are £280,000 and three
bedroom properties are £240,000 - £250,000.

If possible, she would also like periodical payments from the Respondent whether or not she
keeps the house, at least until she can resume full time work which she intends to do when
Thomas starts full time school. Her full time salary would be approximately £28,000 p.a. if she
remains in the same role which she would hope to do. She is, however, prepared to concede
this point if necessary if the house is sold and she does not need to take on a large mortgage.
She would like the security of maintenance at least short term but will take your advice as to
whether this will be possible.

She has been told that she could borrow up to £56,000 on her income by way of a mortgage
taking into account earned and child benefits income. Some lenders have agreed in principle to
lend up to the current £75,000 value of the mortgage on the basis of all benefits income. The
Applicant would do that, enabling her to switch to a repayment mortgage and release the capital
in the endowment policy if she could keep the house, but is worried this could leave her
vulnerable to any benefits changes and she would need the cushion of periodical payments in
the short to medium term.

If the house is sold she does not want to borrow any more than £56,000 in the short term.
In terms of child maintenance the Applicant will want the minimum that the CMS would award.
She is also very concerned about her eldest son James’ educational needs. He has been
diagnosed with dyslexia and she feels strongly that his needs will be best met in a private
school with smaller class sizes. Her parents have offered to pay half of this but she would like
the Respondent to pay the other half. The cost is approximately £15,000 per annum, a bursary
for some fees may be available.

The Applicant will argue that the Respondent has a very healthy mortgage raising capacity of
around £210,000 and could buy a 2/3 bedroomed property on the outskirts of Manchester
without difficulty (price ranges £200k – 250k). She will argue that the Respondent’s parents
would gift or lend him funds for a deposit as they are financially wealthy.

As far as the money given by the Respondent’s parents for the purchase of the former
matrimonial home is concerned, she still believes that at the time the money was given by way
of a gift. However, she can’t really prove this and so is prepared to accept if she must that the
Respondent’s parents want their money back when the property is eventually sold.

Regarding the loan for double glazing and the Respondent’s HSBC loan, the Applicant accepts
that there may be an arguable case that the loan taken out to install double glazing should be
paid in some way by her and the Respondent jointly. As far as she is concerned the business
loan which the Respondent took out is not her responsibility. It was not taken out for the benefit
of the family but solely to further the Respondent’s business interests. She denies that the
whole family had the benefit of the loan.

In any event, as far as those debts are concerned, the Respondent has sufficient income to pay
the monthly instalments whereas the Applicant is unable to do this.

The Applicant has a very small pension pot and is paying in the minimum amount at the
moment. She wants to equalise the pension provision so that her pension pot reflects 50% of
the joint pension assets. She is open as to whether this is done by giving her additional capital
or pension splitting.

It has been agreed with the Respondent that the children of the family will remain with her and
when the Respondent is able to accommodate them he will have them one night per week
staying contact.

It has been agreed that if the house is sold their fees will be £11,850

RB attending client 8 units

In the Family Court Sitting at Manchester Case No. 20D7791

Between Janet Green Applicant

And Simon Paul Green Respondent

Schedule of Assets, Liabilities, Income and Outgoings

of the Applicant/Respondent (delete as appropriate)

_____________________________________________________________________________________

ASSETS

1. FMH JOINT APP. RESP.

17 St. James Rd.,
Manchester, M45 2XB £395,000

Mortgage £75,000
Sale Costs £11,850

Net Equity £308,150

2. Savings Account £5,000
Halifax Savings
3. Endowment £25,000
Surrender Value
4. Unquoted shares £6,000
Resp. business
(unrealisable) 1
5. HSBC Current £100
6. Car £5,000
7. HSBC Current £500
8. HSBC Savings £100
9. Skipton Savings £290
10. Car £15,000
_______________________________________________________________________________

Sub Total £344,150 £5,100 £15,890

TOTAL OF ALL ASSETS = £365,140

11. Pension (Respondent) £25,800, retires 2041

12. Pension ( Applicant) £ 8,000 retires 2047

1
You would need further information on the company, such as;
· Is he the only shareholder?
· Is he the only director?
· How has the acquisition value been calculated?
· Why are the shares described as being unrealisable?
You would undoubtedly want to see the company accounts to show the Court how un/profitable the company really is.
LIABILITIES JOINT APP. RESP.

1. Loan £3,000
Double Glazing
2. HSBC Loan £14,600
Disputed
p.4.5 R. Form E
3. Loan from R. parents £10,000
Disputed
p.4.3 R. Form E
4. HSBC Access Card £200
5. HSBC Access Card £700
6. Legal Fees

Sub Total £27,600 £200 £700

TOTAL OF ALL DEBTS = £28,500

INCOME & OUTGOINGS of APPLICANT

INCOME per calendar month

1. Income (salary) £1131.84

2. Child Benefit £ 208.43
3. Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit £ 594.33
4. Child Maintenance £5002 (will increase to approx £940 pcm)
_________________________________________________

TOTAL = £2,434.60 p.c.m.2 (will increase to £2,874.60)

_________________________________________________

OUTGOINGS per calendar month

App. and Children £2,650.003

_________________________________________________

TOTAL = £2,650.00 p.c.m.

_________________________________________________

EXCESS OF £224.60 (based on increased income figure of £2,874.60)

2
In instructions £500, need to clarify Form E para. 1.13, Should increase to around to CMS level of approx. £940 per month
2
Resp currently meeting mortgage payments. Resp to increase child maintenance to CMS assessment level.
3
This is a projected outgoings figure based on current and anticipated expenses for App and children outlined in schedule exhibited to Form E.
Includes payment for mortgage in future on basis of approx. £75,000 mortgage and increased pension contributions.
INCOME & OUTGOINGS of RESPONDENT

INCOME per calendar month

1. Income (salary) £3,752.174

_________________________________________________

TOTAL = £3,752.17p.c.m.5
_________________________________________________

OUTGOINGS per calendar month

Outgoings £3,152.33 6

_________________________________________________

TOTAL = £3,152.33 p.c.m.

_________________________________________________

EXCESS OF £599.84 p.c.m.

4 Average for last 3 months, 2.15 Form E

5
Dividends? And see Footnote 4 re interest on savings.
6
Includes Loan Repayments £5,220 p.a. servicing and socialising at £4,100 p.a.and anticipated mortgage payments. Also,
includes increased CMS payments of £940 per month. However, has not in Form E included costs related to children spending
time with him or various other more detailed outgoings such as clothing, gifts, holidays so outgoings likely to be higher in
reality.