The High Court varied custody, access, property and maintenance orders in a divorce appeal, granting the respondent sole custody of the three children and awarding her the Leinster and foreign properties. The appellant was awarded the Munster family home. Access is stayed until he completes six therapy sessions and the court receives independent verification that safe access can be guaranteed.
The divorce decree itself was not under appeal. The court affirmed it, finding the statutory conditions for divorce satisfied, including that the spouses had lived apart for at least four of the previous five years and that there was no reasonable prospect of reconciliation.
The appellant did not appeal the Circuit Court’s joint custody order. After hearing evidence, including from clinical psychologist Dr Anne Byrne-Lynch, the High Court replaced it with sole custody for the respondent. It said the respondent should keep the appellant informed about the children’s schooling and illness and allow him to attend special events.
For the eldest child, identified as “E”, the court said she was mature enough to choose whether to arrange holiday access with her father. The younger children, “A” and “S”, were to have specified Christmas, Easter and summer access in Munster. Those arrangements, and access for all three children, remain subject to the stay. The court also affirmed practical handover arrangements requiring communication by text and no contact between the appellant and respondent at collection or drop-off.
The court cited the appellant’s refusal to participate in the section 47 assessment, which left the psychologist’s report incomplete. It also referred to his conduct towards the psychologist in court and accepted the respondent’s evidence that she feared him. A separate investigation into “E”’s complaint of a physical altercation was still outstanding; the judgment did not determine that complaint.
On finances, the court valued the Munster home at €300,000, the Leinster property at €390,000 and the jointly owned foreign property at €350,000, the latter by agreement. It ordered the respondent to transfer the Munster property to the appellant and declared her entitled to the full legal and beneficial interests in the other two properties. It also affirmed maintenance of €100 per child per month, to be paid into the respondent’s account from 31 December 2014, and ordered a monthly transfer of €1,275 from the appellant’s bank account to hers.
The court measured the respondent’s costs in the Circuit and High Courts at €155,277 and made an order for that amount. It recorded €1,800 in maintenance arrears and €11,500 in rental income from the foreign property as relevant to its orders.