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Neutral Citation No. [2014] NIMaster 13 Ref: 2014NIMaster13

Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered: 23/09/2014

(subject to editorial corrections)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTHERN IRELAND

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FAMILY DIVISION

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BETWEEN:

B

Petitioner;

and

C

Respondent.

(Consequential Directions to a Consent Order)

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Master Bell

Introduction

[1] On 10 January 2011 the petitioner (to whom I shall refer, for ease of

reference, as “the husband”) and the respondent (to whom I shall refer, for

ease of reference, as “the wife”) entered into a written agreement regarding

their ancillary relief proceedings. On 11 January 2011 the parties invited me to

grant a Consent Order, making that agreement a Rule of Court, and I did so.

In this application the wife, pursuant to a summons dated 2 May 2014, now

seeks :

(i) An order endorsed with a penal notice compelling the husband

to comply in full with the terms of the Consent Order;

(ii) An order compelling the husband to give full disclosure of his

assets and income since the making of the Consent Order;

(iii) Any further order that the court deems fit; and

(iv) Costs.

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[2] The conflict between the parties centres around the issue of the

husband’s pension. The husband has a pension which is paid by

Schlumberger in US dollars from an account in Dubai.

[3] Paragraph 5 of the Consent Order reads as follows :

“The Petitioner husband shall make periodical

payments by telegraphic transfer in pounds sterling

from Bradford and Bingley to the Respondent wife to

her Ulster bank account number XXXXXXXX for life in

the sum of 50% of his pension payable to him by

Schlumberger, first payment to be 15^th January 2011

and the first day of each quarter thereafter because his

pension is paid to him every three months. The

payment must be made by 15^th of each specified month.

The petitioner husband shall meet the costs of the

telegraphic transfer. For the purposes of clarity, the

Respondent shall be responsible for payment of her

own rent from that date and the monthly payment she

has been receiving of one thousand six hundred and

fifty pounds shall cease forthwith as it has been

replaced by the terms of this clause. The Petitioner

husband shall provide documentary proof of his

quarterly pension to the Respondent wife twice

annually.”

[4] The wife’s grounding affidavit states that the husband’s solicitors

wrote to her on 13 November 2013 explaining that from September 2012 the

husband was resident in the Isle of Man and as a result was liable to pay tax

there on his income. They wrote :

“In consequence of this our client will have to reduce the

amount of maintenance payable to you but will always ensure

that he continues to comply with his obligations to pay you

50% of his income.”

On 20 December 2013 the husband’s solicitors wrote to the wife stating :

“Clearly the terms of the Consent Order were that [the

husband] was to pay you 50% of his pension income received

net of tax. Our client further instructs us that the exact amount

of tax is not known to him at the present time but he has

deducted the sum of £600 from your quarterly pension

payment on the basis of an estimate. The final figure will not

be known until after October 2014. Our client has previously

sent you a reconciliation in January 2013, he informs us, and

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proposes from now on to make those appropriate

reconciliations at the end of each year.”

[5] However the husband has not always held this view about what he

was obliged to pay the wife under the Consent Order. In a letter dated 5 April

2013 the husband wrote to the Income Tax Division of the Isle of Man

Treasury :

“All aspects of the order are unequivocally clear The order

does state that ‘The petitioner husband shall make periodical

payments by telegraphic transfer in pounds sterling from Bradford

and Bingley to the