The High Court has ordered a husband in judicial separation proceedings to provide his wife with specified information about his property and income, including material concerning a company in which he holds more than 90% of the shares. The court also adjourned the proceedings for a period to be set after hearing from the parties, so he can provide documents and information to support his affidavit of means.
The application concerned the wife’s request for company information to help value her husband’s shareholding and assess financial dealings between him and the company. She said the disclosure already provided was inadequate. Her accountants valued the shareholding at between €12 million and €13 million on what they described as an incomplete basis. The husband’s affidavit of means had valued it at US$5 million; a later report obtained by him valued it at between €7.66 million and €9.2 million as of May 2013.
The husband opposed the request, arguing that the information was not necessary or relevant and was not within his possession or power. He also relied on the company’s separate legal identity. The judge accepted that the company was not a party and that it would be wrong to order it to disclose material or treat its property as the husband’s. The application was instead about assessing the husband’s resources and his dealings with the company.
The judge noted that the company had provided information to accountants engaged to value the husband’s shares, and that there was no evidence he had asked the company for the material sought by his wife’s accountants or that such a request had been refused. The court considered the disclosure relevant to proper provision in the separation proceedings, where it has a role in examining the parties’ financial circumstances and they must make full and frank disclosure.
The court distinguished earlier discovery cases because this application arose under family-law provisions requiring a spouse to give particulars of property and income. It ordered the husband to furnish the particulars listed in the wife’s notice of motion and to provide the material needed to vouch his affidavit of means. The adjournment period remains to be determined. If the company refuses a request for assistance, the husband may return to court; the judgment left any further steps for later consideration. No order was made against the company.