Quickly scanning the judgment of Mr Justice Mostyn in Collardeau-Fuchs v Fuchs this morning I am reminded of the recurring argument: should the wealthy pay more to use our courts?
The case concerns a wife’s application for maintenance pending suit. I will make no comment upon either the merits of the application or its outcome. What struck me was the figures involved. We are told, for example, that the husband’s total net assets were said to be an eye-watering £1,245,532,056, and that in 2020 the parties required some £1,236,390, just to cover their living costs. The costs of their travel and holidays that year were £1,228,669.
And yet the wife would have paid the same court fee as anyone else to issue her application for a financial order, currently standing at the princely sum of £275.
But the wife was not impecunious. Although the proceedings are yet in their very early stages, she has already managed to incur legal costs of £467,793.
And we all know that these very high-money cases invariably take up huge swathes of court time. One can only guess at the actual cost to the taxpayer.
Surely, those who can afford it should make a significantly greater contribution towards that cost?
Quite how this might be achieved is a matter for discussion. For example, back in October I had a brief conversation about this on Twitter with the leading family lawyer David Hodson. The conversation went as follows:
Read full post
http://www.familylore.co.uk/2022/02/should-wealthy-pay-more-to-use-our.html
