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Family law - conduct within ancillary relief proceedings
27 January 2012
On 26th January 2012 the Court of Appeal found that where it was necessary to re-open ancillary relief proceedings, due to non-disclosure by a party as to assets, the Judge was able to award the other party a lump sum representing what the Judge considered to be a fair award. The party guilty of non disclosure was not in a position to complain about the difficulty in calculating the award, and in particular the generous ambit of discretion open to the Judge, because such difficulty was created by that party's own conduct. Further, it was appropriate for the party guilty on non-disclosure, thereby leading to the proceedings having to be re-opened, to pay the other party's costs.
Michele Ann Hutchings-Whelan -v- Paul Allan Hutchings [2012] EWCA Civ 38
Should you wish to discuss any type of family law issue, please contact our Family Team for a free exploratory conversation.
Andrew Petchey, Partner, Litigation Team, Howell Jones solicitors
