Law digests: 27 February 2026

Divorce

LP v MP [2026] EWFC 36

The Family Court determined an application for costs following substantive financial remedy proceedings in which serious findings had been made against the respondent wife. The court held that the wife had treated the High Court with contempt throughout both the financial and children proceedings. Key findings included that the wife failed to attend the first appointment and the pre-trial review, only attending the final hearing; she failed to serve her Form E in advance, serving it 18 days late to the court and over a month late to the husband’s solicitors; she used her Form E to run a false conduct case against the husband, including blaming him for her own criminal fraud convictions; and her responses to questionnaires came without supporting documentation, with oral evidence revealing many narrative answers were deliberately untrue. The court found the wife’s conduct amounted to litigation misconduct warranting severe costs penalties. Applying Azarmi-Movafagh v Bassiri-Dezfouli, the court concluded the wife’s conduct was completely out of the norm