False Claim and Perjury

[webb58]

My ex (as of 4 years ago) made an application for me to pay maintenance for our disabled son (who is over 21 years old and whose monthly income is twice what I earn and he has no outgoings for council tax, rent, etc).

Cutting a very long story short, the whole claim was based on lies (firstly about my son's income, then about the ex's assets, outgoings and income, etc). She lied on oath on the sworn form E, which my solicitor says is perjury. She insisted on dragging the case into court even though she was told that her claim was misconceived and flawed and was also told that if she continued, the judge would be asked to take a claim for costs into account. To this date, she has never provided the paperwork requried to accompany the form E and when asked about items she did not declare as assets (e.g. a brand new car and a second home), she finally decided to drop the claim months later - stating her reason to the courts as that she has only just been made aware of my own financial situation! This is another total lie and my solicitor has informed the courts that I provided all necessary information and documentation immediately, whereas she never has done.

So she has cost me £2600 for a totally invalid claim and I am seeking costs. My solicitor says I am wasting my time as she will not be made to pay anything because she is on benefits! My solicitor also says the courts will not bother with a case of perjury for the same reason!

Can somebody please advise whether this is correct? How can someone abuse the system like this and get away with it, costing so much financial outlay and stress to other people for a pack of lies? OK, perjury isn't up to me (but not fair on every taxpayer), but what about my situation? It's not right that someone can take anyone they like to court over a complete pack of lies and then drop the case for more lies, turn around and walk away.

[webb58]

I should add that my ex is not on benefits due to the fact she cannot work; it is through choice. She stated on her form E that she is unable to work due to her responsibilities to our son as he is disabled. If our son was at home with her most of the time, I could understand that claim, but she neglected to mention that our son is in fact away from the home between 8am and 6pm every day, attending day centre, college, going on trips, etc. and on top of this, he also spends 12 hours per week with carers for entertainment needs. I'm amazed how any other parent with children can manage it when she can't!

I don't care whether she works or not - except that due the fact she chooses not to, it seems that she will be allowed to get away with this.

[themas]

If you have evidence about the second home - i.e. that she owns it and has equity in it - then this should go some way towards persuading a Court that she is not as hard up as she would wish them to believe.

The brand new car could also be an issue - providing you have evidence she has bought it & paid for it (& that it is not a Motability car for the disabled son).

Presumably her benefits (or some of them) are means tested. If she owns a second home this should be taken into account in assessing her entitlement & it's quite likely she could be denied some benefits. You could report her to the DWP benefit fraud people & hope they investigate. This will not help you, but if she is defrauding DWP it should be stopped if possible.