N and N
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Master Bell |
| Neutral Citation | [2018] NIMaster 11 |
| Court | High Court (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 13 November 2018 |
1
[2018] NIMaster 11 Ref:
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
21/11/18
(subject to editorial corrections)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE OF NORTHERN IRELAND
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FAMILY DIVISION
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BETWEEN:
N
Petitioner;
and
N
Respondent.
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Master Bell
[1] In this judgment I shall, for ease of reference, refer to the petitioner and
the respondent as “the wife” and “the husband” respectively. In this
application the wife seeks Ancillary Relief pursuant to a summons issued on 8
May 2015.
[2] Because one of the children of the family is aged under 18, this
judgment has been anonymised. The parties are requested to consider the
terms of this judgment and to inform the Matrimonial Office in writing within
two weeks as to whether there is any reason why it should not be published
on the Judiciary NI website or as to whether it requires any further
anonymisation prior to publication. If the Office is not so informed within
that timescale then it will be published in its present form.
[3] At the hearing both parties gave oral evidence. Three affidavits were
sworn by the wife on 6 November 2014, 13 October 2015 and 13 October 2015
in connection with maintenance pending suit and ancillary relief applications.
The wife adopted these affidavits as her evidence for the purpose of these
proceedings. Affidavits were sworn by the husband on 18 December 2014, 6
November 2015, and 11 February 2016 in connection with maintenance
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pending suit and ancillary relief applications. The husband adopted these
affidavits as his evidence for the purpose of these proceedings. Each counsel,
Mr Ritchie for the wife and Miss Walker for the husband, also advanced their
client’s case by means of written and oral submissions. One of the witnesses,
the general manager of the parties’ business, to whom I shall refer as “Mr
McK”, was called at my direction. He was represented by Miss Gillen of
counsel. I am grateful to all three counsel for their helpful submissions.
[4] Certain assets were agreed as being held by the parties:
(i) The matrimonial home.
The matrimonial home was built on a site which was given to the husband by
his father. The land had been in the family for five or six generations. The
parties funded the new build by selling the house which they had previously
been living in. The case was initially opened to me on the basis that it was
agreed between the parties that the matrimonial home was valued either at
£282,500 if there were issues in relation to the title of the property and access
to it, or £360,000 if there were no such issues. The parties subsequently
agreed a £360,000 valuation of this property, with there being some £150,000
in equity. The mortgage is an interest-only mortgage. It is also of note that
the laneway to the house was just covered in loose stones. The wife insisted
that it be tarmaced and obtained a £10,000 loan in her name to accomplish
this. The husband added some £2,000 to this sum in order that the tarmacing
might be done.
(ii) A business.
The parties own a business in equal shares. The wife is the company
secretary. The husband is the director. After obtaining accountancy advice
the parties were agreed that the business was worth £475,000.
(iii) A property at 108 B Road.
The husband gave evidence that this property was bought jointly with
another individual and currently it is bricked up and derelict. He said he had
no plans to develop the site. It had a valuation of £30,000 but was currently in
negative equity.
(iv) A property at 112 B Road.
The husband gave evidence that this property was in his sole name but in
hindsight it was not a good purchase. It was purchased with the assistance of
an interest only mortgage and is rented out to a tenant who pays some £485
rent per month. The rental income from this property covers the mortgages
on both 112 B Road and 108 B Road.
[5] In addition, certain properties were disputed as to whether or not they
were held by the parties:
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