Maintenance arrears are notoriously difficult to collect, and in these hard times many dodgers will plead poverty. But particularly when children are involved our courts will not hesitate to threaten serial defaulters with jail for contempt of court – a wakeup call which has no doubt resulted in many a dodger changing tune with considerable alacrity from “I’m too poor to pay” to “Hang on, I have money after all”.
Two recent High Court cases illustrate. The first involved two children, over half a million in arrears, and a father claiming inability to pay but earning well and spending freely on a BMW and on an online gambling habit. The second case featured two dogs, a wife’s household expenses, and a company battered by the pandemic lockdown…
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