Re H (Costs) v PA
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Mr Justice Keehan |
| Judgment Date | 05 February 2020 |
| Neutral Citation | [2020] EWHC B17 Fam |
| Date | 05 February 2020 |
| Docket Number | Case No: LE16P01408 |
| Court | Family Court |
[2020] EWHC B17 Fam
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
FAMILY DIVISION
Nottingham Combined Court Centre
Mr Justice Keehan
Case No: LE16P01408
and
Mr R Jones (instructed by Helen Fitzsimons Family Law) for the Applicant
The 1 st Respondent appeared in person
Ms A Musgrave (instructed by NYAS) for the 2nd Respondent
Hearing dates: on the papers
Approved Judgment
I direct that pursuant to CPR PD 39A para 6.1 no official shorthand note shall be taken of this Judgment and that copies of this version as handed down may be treated as authentic.
This judgment was delivered in private. The judge has given leave for this version of the judgment to be published on condition that (irrespective of what is contained in the judgment) in any published version of the judgment the anonymity of the children and members of their family must be strictly preserved. All persons, including representatives of the media, must ensure that this condition is strictly complied with. Failure to do so will be a contempt of court.
The Hon.
This decision on the issue of the apportionment of the costs of the expert witnesses instructed in this case should be read with my judgment given on 3 rd October 2019. I decided that the care of the child should be transferred from the mother to the father. Accordingly, I made a child arrangements order that H should live with his father and an order that he should spend time with his mother after a three month moratorium in the immediate aftermath of his move to live with his father.
The mother has to date declined to engage with the professionals to undertake therapy which I had accepted was a prerequisite to the commencement of contact with H. Therefore, H, who has settled extremely well in the care of his father, has not yet had any form of contact with his mother.
I accepted the instruction of Dr. Braier, a well-known and respected expert in the field of parental alienation, was necessary for the court to determine the issues in this case and I accepted that the instruction of a number of professionals to advise on and support the transition of H from his mother's care to his father's case was necessary. I, therefore, gave permission for the instruction of Dr. Braier, the Family Separation Clinic, Alison Bushell and Elizabeth Archer.
In order to avoid unnecessary delay the father agreed to pay the costs of this expert and of these professionals but without prejudice to seek an order for the mother to pay a one half share of the same at the conclusion of these proceedings. The father has now made this application. The mother opposed the application essentially on the ground that she cannot afford to pay these costs. I gave directions for the mother and the father to file brief statements on the issue of the costs of Dr. Braier and the professionals and that I would determine the father's application on paper.
The mother and the father have both filed and served...
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