This is a bit long but I feel I need to give all the facts. In 2006 my husband decided it would be good to move to Spain, as he grew up here and is fluent in the language. I have a 14 year old son from a previous marriage and 4 year old twins from this current marriage. My elder son’s father took us to court to prevent us from moving and it went on for just over a year. Finally in Aug 2007 we were given the go ahead by the court to move here. My husband went back to the UK in Jan 2008 as he couldn’t find any regularly paid work (not that he looked very hard). I have been on my own with the children since that time and he travels back once a month for 5 days, and sometimes not for 2 months at a time. I have asked him several times when he is coming back and he keeps moving the goal posts, and therefore our marriage has inevitably broken down. I have had a suspicion for over a year now that he has a relationship in the UK, and I feel this because of the lack of anything remotely physical in the relationship for this period of time, although he has denied this. Furthermore, he has been giving me less and less money to the point where I had to move from my last house as he wasn’t giving me enough money to pay the rent even though he was earning it. A year ago we reclaimed Child Benefit because we found out that as he was a UK tax payer, we were still entitled to it. The claim has literally just been paid, and we received ?2,000. My husband always said that as soon as it was received in the UK bank account he would transfer it to me for the children. Last week I got an email from him to say it had been paid and he had used a large amount to pay off his credit card (which I have never had access to). I was extremely angry and phoned the bank and transferred ?1,000 to me so that I have a financial cushion. He phoned me swearing and cursing and has sent me an email to say if I don’t pay the ?1,000 back to him (why he seems to think it is HIS money I don’t know) he won’t give me any more money. I am not working as I haven’t found anything that enables me to earn a regular wage during school hours so therefore if he doesn’t give me any money, I can’t pay the rent or live. My question is am I entitled to receive an amount from him that enables me to pay rent and continue to live in Spain? I can’t bear the thought of having to return to the UK, especially due to the trouble my son and I went through in trying to move here in the first place, and we have now really settled here. I did telephone a local solicitor for an appointment but they wanted 80 Euros for the advice and I simply do not have that kind of money. Anyone that can help or point me in the right direction would be truly appreciated because I just don’t know what to do. Thank you:(
