Mark Allen says he only decided to compete at the UK Championship after taking advice from three solicitors.
The Antrim cue star enjoyed a winning return to action on Thursday night, beating Michael Judge 6-2 in the opening round of the tournament at York's Barbican Centre.
Allen won last month's Northern Ireland Open but later admitted he was "unsure if he would get any" of his £70,000 prize money for winning the event.
The 35-year-old - who has struggled over the past couple of years with depression, divorce and financial difficulty - was then forced to miss last week’s Champion of Champions due to “personal reasons”.
Speaking after his win over Judge, Allen described the past 12 months as "one of the toughest years of my life".
And he admits he didn't have any intention of competing at the UK Championship until his legal representatives intervened.
"If it was my own decision alone, and not all the legal people, I think I would have pulled out, if I am being honest," he said.
"They are a lot more confident going forward than I am, but obviously you have to trust their decision and they know the legal profession a lot better than I do.
"And all three solicitors that are involved said I should play."
He added: "Hopefully it is going to sort itself out very soon. It's not an ideal situation I am in, and I can't wait until it is all over so I can actually tell you what's going on because you could literally write a book.
"Not many people might buy it, to be fair, but I could write a book about what's happened over the past year.
"It has been one of the toughest years of my life, if I am being honest."
