(Family Division; Munby J; 13 July 2006)

Rejecting cross-appeals against an order for maintenance pending suit, the court found that the judge had been entitled to conclude that the husband had not satisfied him that the alleged reduction in his bonus was bona fide; the husband had wholly failed to demonstrate that his income had in fact been reduced. The judge had clearly been entitled to find that this was an exceptional" case in which it ws appropriate to include legal costs in the order for maintenance pending suit. The judge had however been plainly wrong not to have made provision for the costs of the child's forthcoming bar mitzvah. The court considered the appropriate figure, given the family's wealth and social and business standing, to be in the region of £45,000."