The High Court granted a decree of divorce to a couple identified as F. and D., but adjourned decisions on pension adjustment orders pending further evidence about their pension entitlements.
In a judgment delivered on 26 June 2024, Mr Justice Jordan said the couple had agreed there was no dispute about granting the divorce. The dispute concerned proper provision. They married in Dublin in April 2004, have two teenage children and both live and work abroad. The judge described their parenting arrangement as successful shared care.
The court accepted an undertaking signed by both parties concerning the family home abroad. They are to cooperate in placing it for sale at the beginning of March 2025, and the sale is not to close before 20 June 2025. The respondent undertook not to seek an earlier sale and not to enter the property before the sale. The judge said the home’s net value was about €900,000 and ordered its net proceeds divided equally.
The respondent must also pay €12,000 to the applicant from his share of the sale proceeds, to assist initially with rent. The judge declined the applicant’s request for monthly maintenance of €400 for each child. He instead directed that the parties share major child-related expenses 60/40 in the applicant’s favour, covering college fees including accommodation, and uninsured medical or dental costs.
The court did not make pension adjustment orders at this stage because evidence about the pensions was insufficient. It requested further information from the overseas state pension administrator and adjourned the case to 14 October 2024. The judge said he considered pension equalisation necessary for proper provision, but had not made a final decision. Further ancillary orders were also left for later.
The judgment says the court lifted the in camera rule to permit the judgment and signed undertaking to be made available to the overseas court. It also records that the parties were to maintain the status quo by agreement pending the home’s sale.