“Better to be transparent”, this is what one of our leading Judges decided in London when Sir Peter Singer ordered a husband to pay costs.

Mr Thierry, who lived overseas, did not deal with financial disclosure in an honest way and sought to hide his financial wealth from the Court and from his wife by entering into very complex financial arrangements.

Even though the matrimonial Court during the divorce proceedings gave Mr Thierry every opportunity to disclose his financial position to his wife and to the Court, he consistently failed to do so. In fact the Court took such a dim view of Mr Thierry’s failure to disclose his financial position they ordered him to be imprisoned for 4 months. He only escaped imprisonment because he was living overseas.

Sir Peter Singer said of Mr Thierry that he was “an unprincipled rogue who has acted in a financially predatory fashion to prey on his wife for his own profit and to her substantial detriment”.

The Courts have wide powers to ensure that there is full financial disclosure during all divorce cases between a husband and wife. If either attempt to conceal assets they can be penalised by being ordered to pay the other party’s costs. In this case Mr Thierry had to pay all of his wife’s costs and was financially penalised by the Court for not disclosing his financial position and for being deliberately dishonest.

Caption: Andrew Brooks. Partner, Family Team