A woman has been awarded more than £1.2 million after a judge found her ex-husband had ‘defied court orders with impunity’ and ‘engaged in a frustrating and confounding process of obfuscatory disclosure’.
Recorder Rhys Taylor, sitting in the Central Family Court, said ‘On occasions too frequent for the court to do justice to here, the husband has been demonstrated to not be telling the truth. The husband, bluntly, cannot be believed. His disclosure and litigation conduct has been appalling and has been designed to confuse and obfuscate. He is thoroughly and determinedly dishonest.’
The judgment in VTY v GDB acknowledged that the ‘level of obscene spending by the husband on himself whilst pleading poverty and not complying with the court orders for MPS [maintenance pending suit] also reflects very badly on him’ adding ‘by illustration’ that the husband spent ‘€2,137 on a clutch/wallet for what he described as a delayed birthday present for the wife of a friend’.
Describing the husband’s disclosure as ‘woeful’, the recorder said the husband had ‘done himself absolutely no favours at all’. ‘The consequences of this sorry state of affairs will be carried by the husband and not by the wife,’ the judgment added.
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Dividing the assets, the court awarded the wife £1,212,357, which includes a mortgage-free home, school fees and ‘some capital’, and the husband £483,323.
The judge said his approach was ‘necessitated by the husband’s dishonesty’. He added: ‘By his behaviour, the husband has made plain his determination not to comply with court orders. His contempt for the wife and court orders are plain.
‘If the husband had behaved reasonably and lawfully, the court would have had the option of making a periodical payments order so that there would be capital to share. It is the husband’s actions which have closed down this option for the court.’
A £54,202 costs order was also made against the husband.
