Family Law

(Family Division; Moylan J; 11 December 2009)

The husband was in business with his wife's brothers and shared an office space and computer facilities. The husband was evicted from the business premises by his wife's brother who then took vast amounts of financial documents from the husband's computer of relevance to the matrimonial proceedings.

The case raised issues of whether and in what circumstances a party should be permitted to retain and or make use of 'irregularly obtained information'.

The court ruled that although the documents are privileged the wife could use information contained in the files to prove her husband's current wealth.

However Mr Justice Moylan ordered her to pay the £1m costs of the latest hearing, as the husband had offered from the outset to adhere to the terms of the pre-nuptial agreement.

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