The High Court quashed the child maintenance part of an interim order made by Cork District Court, finding there was insufficient evidence before the District Judge to establish that either of the two sons qualified as a dependent child. It refused to quash the €188 weekly order for the wife.
In a judicial review judgment delivered on 9 October 2015, Ms Justice Baker said the District Judge had no evidence on which to decide that the sons met the dependency tests under the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act 1976. The sons were 20 and 22 when the interim order was made on 13 May 2015.
The older son had taken time away from university and was expected to resume his studies later that year. The High Court said a student who takes a year off is not in full-time education during that period. The younger son was described in evidence as having psychiatric difficulties or depression, but the court said there was no evidence that his condition made it not reasonably possible for him to support himself fully. The court therefore ordered certiorari quashing the maintenance award for both sons.
The husband had also challenged the wife’s interim maintenance, arguing that the hearing was unfair. The District Judge had not allowed cross-examination, and Ms Justice Baker found that this was an error and a degree of unfair procedure. However, the husband did not dispute that his wife was entitled to maintenance, and the dispute concerned the amount. The High Court declined to quash that part of the order, noting the limited interim period and that the husband had not argued that he could not afford the amount.
The court also rejected the husband’s challenges based on jurisdiction, alleged bias and the District Judge’s failure to give fuller reasons. It held that the wife’s maintenance application could proceed in the District Court despite the husband’s Circuit Court judicial separation proceedings, which had not included an application by the wife for maintenance. The review did not determine the longer-term financial arrangements in those separation proceedings.