Family Law

(Family Division; Coleridge J; 5 April 2011)

The couple was married for seven years and had one child. Their total assets amounted to £4 million, almost all of which had been brought into the marriage by the husband. The husband had considerable earned income. Use of White v White etc authorities not helpful in a case in which barely enough to cover needs. The case was driven mostly by needs. In such cases, counsel should not waste time in preliminary theoretical discussions, but move swiftly to look at practicalities of suggested outcomes. Disclosure: Husbands needed to understand that advisors of wives could not provide proper advice without full confidence in Form E numbers. However, the wife's injunction to prevent disposal of a numberplate had gone too far. Court would discourage pursuit of add-back approach to legal costs, which inevitably led to quasi-taxation or assessment of costs during hearing but without court having all material available to a costs judge - also led to debates about costs which new rules designed to try to reduce or prevent.

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