CC v LC
[2023] EWFC 52 (B)
LI v FT (Maintenance Pending Suit: Costs)
19 July 2024
[2024] EWFC 342 (B)
Family Court
A wife asked the court for money to live on and for a holiday while her divorce is ongoing. The husband had moved a large amount of money out of their joint account. The court gave the wife some of what she asked for, but not the holiday money. Importantly, the judge made each party pay their own expensive legal bills because they both contributed to the fight and failed to compromise.
Key Facts
- •Husband earns £350,000 gross salary + bonuses (£175,000 net last year).
- •Parties receive £2,500 monthly rent (outgoings exceed income).
- •Husband emptied joint accounts, transferring £140,000.
- •Wife applied for interim maintenance (£3,587.50), holiday funds (£22,150), and rent/utilities payment (£7,700).
- •Husband offered various holiday sums; wife rejected offers.
- •Wife incurred £65,000 in legal fees; husband £26,000.
- •Wife's application for a legal services payment order resolved by agreement (£42,000).
Legal Principles
Court's power to make costs orders in maintenance pending suit applications.
Family Procedure Rules 2010, Rule 28.1; Civil Procedure Rules 1998, Part 44 (excluding rule 44.2(2)).
Costs orders in maintenance pending suit applications are not determined by a 'costs follow the event' rule, but rather a 'clean sheet' approach considering all circumstances.
CPR 44.2(4), (5); Judge v Judge [2008] EWCA Civ 1458; Baker v Rowe [2009] EWCA Civ 1162.
Outcomes
Interim maintenance of £3,587.50 granted.
Slightly more than wife already received; husband to pay fixed amount; rent unreliable.
Holiday fund application refused.
Lack of jurisdiction to order interim lump sum; unaffordable given family's cash flow.
Husband to pay £7,700 monthly rent/utilities to wife.
Husband's actions in emptying joint accounts were controlling; wife's concerns about future withholding were justified.
Each party to pay their own costs.
Both parties contributed to the contested hearing; both succeeded and failed on parts of their applications; neither significantly more culpable.