CC v LC
[2023] EWFC 52 (B)
Y v Z
26 October 2023
[2023] EWFC 205 (B)
Family Court
A divorced couple's financial dispute dragged on for years because the wife kept getting sick and didn't follow court orders. The judge finally decided to give the husband some of the money stuck in a joint account and make the wife's helper pay the husband's legal fees for wasted time. The case is paused until the wife gets a lawyer.
Key Facts
- •Financial remedies proceedings following a 2014 divorce between Mr. Y (husband) and Dr. Z (wife).
- •A 2015 consent order, clarified in 2017, aimed for equal distribution of assets, including future carried interest.
- •Husband's career decline due to a fraud scandal in 2018 led to his 2020 application to vary/discharge periodical payments.
- •Substantial delays in proceedings largely attributed to wife's ill health and non-compliance with court orders.
- •Wife declared lacking litigation capacity in 2022, with Dr. X appointed as litigation friend.
- •Wife's legal representation ceased in early October 2023, leaving her unrepresented for the final hearing.
- •Husband sought access to funds held in a joint F Bank account, while wife lacked cooperation and proper disclosure.
Legal Principles
Overriding objective of the Family Procedure Rules 2010, Rule 1.
FPR 2010, Rule 1
Test for permission to appeal under FPR 2010 Rule 30.3(7).
FPR 2010, Rule 30.3(7)
Principles governing costs orders against litigation friends under FPR 2010 Rule 15 and Senior Courts Act 1981, section 51.
FPR 2010 Rule 15; Senior Courts Act 1981, section 51
Case law regarding costs orders and litigation friend's responsibilities (Major v Kirishana [2023] EWHC 1593; Barker v Confiance Limited [2021] 1 WLR 231).
Major v Kirishana [2023] EWHC 1593; Barker v Confiance Limited [2021] 1 WLR 231
Outcomes
Spousal periodical payments varied to a nominal level, backdated.
Husband's significantly reduced income and wife's substantial wealth.
Child periodical payments varied.
Interim assessment based on husband's reduced income.
Husband to pay 50% of school fees.
Equal sharing of responsibility.
Remainder of F Bank funds (approx. £532,246.52) awarded to husband.
Balancing exercise considering husband's financial needs, wife's lack of credible claim, and unreasonable delays.
Future C payments to be distributed via Goodman Ray.
Administrative convenience and demonstrated fairness of this method.
Litigation friend (Dr. X) ordered to pay husband's wasted costs (£42,128.79).
Dr. X's inadequate performance as litigation friend, despite illness.
Proceedings adjourned generally, with liberty to restore subject to conditions.
Need for wife to secure proper representation before proceeding.