Divorce

The Family Division held that a husband (H) who had successfully applied to set aside a consent order in divorce proceedings, on the grounds of the wife’s (W) material non-disclosure, was entitled to 50% of his costs of that application, to be assessed on an indemnity basis. In the circumstances, both parties’ conduct justified that award, which included a substantial discount on the grounds that no findings of fraud had been made against W; she had made a sensible offer to settle some two years before the matter concluded; and, in the course of proceedings, H had leaked confidential information about the case to the national press.