Ex wife takes money from ex husbands business!

[tgm1974]

My partner has 3 children from his previous relationship and the two younger children are 10 and 12.

Until recently they have been on civil terms as his ex does "accounts" for a living and always did his books for him. He has started a new business about 18 months ago with two partners and she said agreed to do the books for them ... she would get some money out of it (bit of profit) but nothing extravagant.

Anyway, he has now discoverd that there is money missing from the business ... he basically trusted her to pay CQs in, draw money out, print invoices, etc. This could be anything from �5k-20k!!!!

Two questions : does he have any legal backing to take her to court about it as she is saying she cant afford to pay it back (their divorce only came through last week) ---- plus could he withold any child maintenance from her til she pays his money back (Ive told him to put the money in an account for the kids til she pays up)??

All replies appreciated

[daffy654]

He can't withold the maintenance payments.He should keep paying that and then seek legal advice about the money she stole from the business.He could go to the police about that but he has to consider whether he really wants to take the mother of his children through a criminal court case.

[wolf63]

If I were your husband I would make sure that I was certain beyond any doubt that his ex is the person who has taken the money. Maybe he should pay for an accountant to check the accounts first to make sure that they money is actually missing and it is not just a miscalculation.

Good luck in sorting this out.

[pink-kittens]

maintenance for his children is completely separate form his ex having possibly stolen from him
Why would you want the children to suffer because of this? Paying it into an account means they will go without so it needs to be paid however it is being paid now
As wolf, get someone to look thoroughly at the accounts and then decide what to do

[tgm1974]

She has definitely taken the money as she has said she cannot afford to pay it back - we just have to work out how much exactly. An accountant has said he wont touch it unless we give him �1000 upfront cos the books are that much of a mess.

She seems to be spending money on the house very easily at the moment so she must now be short of a few pounds - hence me saying about witholding the maintenance ... if she is paying out for house renovations (that dont need to be done) then how is she affording it!

[daffy654]

The thing is the maintenance and the theft from the business are two completely different issues. If your partner just stopped paying maintenance then he could be taken to court over it. He MUST continue to pay for the upkeep of his children! Phone your local CAB and make an appointment for some advice about the theft.