High Court Judge slams wealthy foreign divorce clients

A High Court Judge has branded the amount of time English Courts are spending dealing with wealthy international litigants involved in divorce cases 'out of control'.

Mr Justice Holman raised his concerns about the number of hours and expenses Courts accrue dealing with these cases, squeezing out needy litigants.

He added, "Very serious issues ought to arise as to just how much time of an English Court these parties should be able to take up on these preliminary skirmishes, whilst squeezing out the many needy litigants who need precious court time to recover their children from abduction, or seek their return from care and other such issues".

Using the case of Chai v Peng as an example in an article published in the Law Society Gazette, Mr Justice Holman estimated that litigation has so far incurred £1.6m in costs in England and Malaysia where the husband currently lives.

Describing the litigation in these type of cases as 'completely out of control' incurring 'phenomenal costs' and court time, he added that "So far as the situation here is concerned – neither of them are British citizens. Neither of them pays any English taxes whatsoever".

The wife of 42 years in the Chai v Peng case lives in a £30m Hertfordshire property and initially brought proceedings in the UK.  She has so far has incurred £920,000 in court costs in this country alone.

With a two day hearing set for this spring there has been a further 10 days of court time booked in during October when it will be decided whether the divorce will finally take place in this country or Malaysia.

Justice Holman urged both parties to sit down and negotiate and in the interim has ordered that the wife receive maintenance payments of £70,000 until the April hearing.  Placing a £100,000 limit on her legal costs until then, he described the projected costs by October as a "little short of mind-boggling".

If you are thinking of divorce and need to speak to a family lawyer, call 0845 603 0708, or complete the form on the right and we'll call you back.

National Solicitors
Divorce Solicitors

London & Peterborough
Tel: 0845 603 0708