The High Court has granted a decree of judicial separation and directed a husband to pay his wife €6,000 gross a month in maintenance, without setting an end date. The court also set out pension and death-in-service benefit orders, while reserving two matters for further submissions.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Keane on 8 July 2014, concerned spouses identified as J.K. and R.K. They married in 1996 and had no children. The court found that their marriage had irreparably broken down and that they had not had a normal marital relationship for at least a year before the application. It granted the decree under section 2(1)(f) of the Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act 1989.
The spouses had agreed, subject to court orders, to transfer their interests in two properties so that the wife would own the property abroad and the husband the property in Ireland. They also agreed that their combined funds and investments would be divided equally. The court said it would make orders reflecting those arrangements.
The main dispute concerned additional financial provision. The wife sought half of the accumulated retirement benefits in each of the husband’s two pension funds, a 50% interest in his death-in-service benefits, €10,000 monthly maintenance, continued health insurance cover through his employer, and a contribution to her legal costs. The husband proposed that her pension provision be capped at €500,000, representing about 40% of the funds’ combined current value, and sought lower maintenance and a smaller death-in-service share. He opposed the health cover and legal-cost requests.
The judge ordered pension adjustment provision giving the wife the entirety of the husband’s first pension fund and as much of his second as needed to bring the pension value available to her to €500,000. The judgment described that figure as 40% of the funds’ current aggregate value. It also ordered a 40% interest for the wife in the death-in-service benefits.
In setting maintenance, the court considered the wife’s monthly outgoings, her qualifications and future earning capacity, and the husband’s income and expenses. The judge accepted that the wife’s responsibilities during the marriage had diminished her earning capacity to some extent, as had her medical condition, but considered she could earn a reasonable livelihood. The husband’s net income was stated as €217,868 for the previous year. The court ordered €6,000 gross monthly maintenance and said either party could return to court if circumstances materially changed.
The court declined to order continued health insurance nomination or a contribution to the wife’s legal costs. It did not decide whether cross-orders under sections 14 and 15A(10) of the Family Law Act 1995 should be made, saying it would hear submissions on that question. It also said it would hear submissions on the form of order needed to reflect its findings. The judgment therefore set out the court’s decisions and directions, with those procedural matters still outstanding.