DH v RH
[2023] EWFC 111
MB v CD
2 April 2024
[2024] EWHC 751 (Fam)
High Court
A mother needed money to pay her lawyers in a divorce case. Her ex-husband is wealthy. The judge gave her money to pay her lawyers because she couldn't afford them otherwise, even though the amount she asked for was very high. The judge said the husband should also pay some of the costs of the hearing related to asking for this money.
Key Facts
- •Application for a legal services payment order in financial and Children Act proceedings.
- •Parties divorced in 2016, one teenage child with special needs.
- •Mother seeks £290,312 in financial proceedings (arrears, wrongly deducted payments, unpaid child costs, and home repairs).
- •Mother seeks £143,499 for legal services in financial proceedings (£58,072 expended, £85,377 future).
- •Mother seeks £239,782 for legal services in Children Act proceedings (£95,338 expended, £144,444 future).
- •Father opposes the application, citing mother's assets (a house) and income.
- •Mother's home is owned by the father, her residency dependent on child's needs.
- •Recent Children Act proceedings involved an application for change of residence by the father.
- •Mother's solicitors threatened to cease acting without payment.
Legal Principles
Test for granting legal services payment order in financial proceedings.
s22 ZA Matrimonial Causes Act 1973
Leading case on legal services payment orders.
Rubin v Rubin [2014] EWHC 611 (Fam)
Relevant considerations for legal services payment orders (e.g., loan availability, asset charging).
Rubin v Rubin [2014] EWHC 611 (Fam), s22 ZA Matrimonial Causes Act 1973
Outcomes
Legal services payment order granted for both financial and Children Act proceedings.
Mother lacks sufficient funds; unable to secure loans; solicitors threatened to withdraw without payment. The court acknowledged the unusual nature of the mother's housing situation and the uncertainty of its continuation.
Financial proceedings: £60,000 awarded (£30,000 for past costs, £30,000 for future costs).
Court deemed the initially claimed amounts excessive but recognized the mother's limited resources and the father's delayed engagement in settlement.
Children Act proceedings: £140,000 awarded (£75,000 for past costs, £65,000 for future costs).
Complex and sensitive proceedings; solicitors' threat to withdraw; father's financial capacity to cover costs.
Costs order against the father for the legal services payment order application: £15,000.
Father did not make a settlement offer, leading to the hearing; court considered the claimed amount excessive but justified a partial award considering the lack of compromise attempts.