Q: I married my husband 30 years ago and moved into his family farm. I had a good job at the time, which I gave up when our first child was born almost 28 years ago.
y husband expected this of me and didn’t give me any option of continuing in my own career but expected me to start working full-time on the farm and to rear the children. Back then, that was common among the farming community.
On top of that, I put my own personal savings, which I had saved from my working days, and an inheritance from my parents into the farm and house to improve it over the years and I’ve always been heavily involved in the day-to-day running of the farm.
Last year, after years of mistreatment, I made the decision to leave my husband and move out. I scraped together whatever savings I had left and have been living off them since, but they are running out and I need help.
My ex-husband refuses to give me any maintenance or proceeds from the farm and says the farm is not making money. The farm has been profitable for years, although the money was always reinvested into it and any real surplus spent on educating the children. It seems my husband has allowed it to become unviable over the past year and would run it into the ground to prevent me gaining a penny from it.
I’m not sure I can afford a lengthy court battle and I know he will put up a fierce fight to hold on to everything.
What are my options?
Answer
I recommend that you apply to the Legal Aid Board to see if you qualify for legal aid when you have no income or assets. If you qualify, then you do not need to be concerned about being able to afford a lengthy court battle. If you do not qualify, you should consult with a private solicitor sooner rather than later.
Your solicitor will take detailed instructions regarding the years of mistreatment and consider whether you are entitled to apply for a divorce. You must be two years separated to apply for a divorce but the courts recognise that parties can be separated while living under the one roof. In other words, although you only vacated the family home last year, depending on the living arrangements, you may still be able to apply for a divorce. If you cannot apply for a divorce, it is open to you to apply for a judicial separation.
Your solicitor will consider the facts and may decide to make a number of interim applications in the context of the separation/divorce proceedings, such as:
– A Motion to Court to apply for a freezing order if you have evidence to show that he is deliberately reducing the income and value of the farm to reduce your claim for relief.
– An application for domestic violence relief such as a Safety or Barring Order. Your solicitor will delve further into the facts surrounding the “mistreatment” you suffered and will consider whether he is still trying to control you by refusing to support you financially and whether you are still in fear of him.
– An interim application for maintenance pending the final order for separation/divorce which would contribute towards your day-to-day expenses.
It is open to you to apply to the District Court for 2 & 3 above (domestic violence relief and maintenance) but it is preferable to have all issues dealt with in the one jurisdiction. Whether an application for a separation or divorce will be made in the Circuit Court or the High Court will depend on the overall value of the assets, and your solicitor will advise you about the options open to you.
Section 20 of the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996 sets out a number of factors to be taken into account by the court when dividing the assets of the marriage and providing for maintenance. These include the fact that you sacrificed your career, your being involved in the day-to-day running of the farm, and the fact that you invested your own savings and inheritance into the farm. You have clearly contributed to the development of the farm and the court is required to make such provision for you as is proper in the circumstances.
Finally, if pleased, your husband’s conduct will also be considered. If the court finds that his mistreatment of you amounts to cruelty, it may decide that it would be unjust to disregard it and will penalise him financially.
As part of the separation/divorce proceedings you will have to exchange vouching documents, which will include bank statements, tax returns, farming accounts, pension statements, details of income, etc. If your husband has deliberately rendered the farm unviable over the past year, this could be exposed by either your accountant or an agricultural consultant and he could be at risk of being penalised for financial misconduct. It is unwise of him to argue that the farm is unviable because it puts it at risk of being sold or divided between you. Courts are less likely to direct the sale of farms when they are viable and income-generating.
Once you are satisfied that all assets have been disclosed, those assets will have to be valued. Your auctioneer might consider whether planning permission might be granted for sites to be carved out of the lands so the value of those possible sites could be valued differently from the remaining agricultural land. Equally, the family home might be valued both independently and as part of the farm. If you didn’t want to return to live in the family home, selling sites might provide a lump sum to enable you to purchase alternative accommodation.
The courts would have to decide how those assets are to be divided between you taking the factors outlined above into account and they will try to ensure that each of you have secure accommodation and an income stream going forward. Achieving that, however, depends on the assets of the marriage.
Ailbhe Burke is a solicitor with MacSweeney & Company, 22 Eyre Square, Galway
