Wife who failed to engage in financial proceedings ordered to pay £275,000 costs

Just recently we wrote here about a husband who received a less favourable divorce settlement, because he failed to properly engage with the court process in financial remedy proceedings.

And now another case has been reported where a party failed to engage in financial remedy proceedings. This time it was the wife who was at fault. And once again the result was her receiving a less favourable settlement. But not just that – she was also ordered to make a substantial contribution towards the husband’s legal costs.

At the final hearing of the husband’s financial remedies application the judge found that the wife had been guilty of conduct so serious that it should be taken into account in the settlement. The conduct, which included fraud and coercive and controlling behaviour, contributed towards her entitlement being reduced by 40%.

After that hearing the husband asked the court to make a costs order against the wife, in view of her conduct in relation to the court process (often referred to a ‘litigation misconduct’), which had led to him incurring substantial additional legal costs.

The wife’s litigation misconduct included:

1. Failing to attend the first two court hearings in the proceedings, despite being aware of them (the first hearing she attended was the final hearing). This failure meant that the court did not fix a Financial Dispute Resolution hearing, at which the case could have been resolved by agreement, rather than proceed to a final hearing.

2. Failing to file her Form E financial statement before the first hearing, as required by the court. This led to the husband having to seek information about the wife’s finances from third parties.

3. Giving untrue answers to questions raised by the husband’s solicitors. (She acknowledged in court that many of the answers that she had given were not true.)

Hearing the husband’s costs application, Mr Justice Cusworth agreed with the husband’s barrister, who said that the wife had treated the court with contempt throughout the proceedings. He said that the wife’s conduct had been “completely out of the norm”, and had “certainly been unreasonable to a high degree”. There was no doubt that she had engaged in litigation misconduct.

In light of what he called “the wife’s egregious behaviour throughout these proceedings”, he ordered the wife to pay the sum of £275,000 towards the husband’s costs, such sum to be deducted from the lump sum that he had ordered the husband to pay to the wife at the final hearing.

You can read the full report of the costs judgment here, and the report of the final financial remedies judgment, here.

*          *          *

Family Law Cafe gives you the best strategy to achieve the right outcome for you and your family and keeps them informed and in control 24/7 through a unique and secure online portal. Family Law Cafe is your start-point for getting matters sorted with strategy, support and security.

Image: ShotPrime Studio / Shutterstock.com