Aids to enforcement

Obtaining information from judgment debtors

The purpose of an information hearing (formerly known as an oral examination) is to establish the income, assets and liabilities of the debtor. It is a useful means of identifying the most appropriate method of enforcement. The judgment debtor's answers are taken on oath and are subject to the usual perjury rules. The judgment creditor/their representative may attend and may ask additional questions by attaching a list of proposed additional questions to the application notice.

See Practice Note: Orders to obtain information from judgment debtors.

Obtaining the address of the debtor

Where a debtor's whereabouts are unknown, an application may be made for the court to request the disclosure from a government department, such as the Department for Work and Pensions, of the address of the judgment debtor. Family Procedure Rules 2010, PD 6C sets out the procedure and the information to be provided to the government department. Requirements differ depending on whether the application relates to proceedings issued prior to or on or after 6 April 2022.

See Practice Note: Obtaining the address of the debtor.

Notices and

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High Court judgment demonstrates usefulness of section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 in Schedule 1 claims (Re P (A Child) (Financial Provision))

Family analysis: In this Schedule 1 case the mother received, for her son’s benefit: a housing fund of nearly £1m (the property to be held on trust); child maintenance (including ‘HECSA’/carer’s allowance) until completion of his first degree; and lump sums in respect of his capital needs and her own substantial liabilities (chiefly relating to her unpaid legal fees). The father (whose resources could be measured in the ‘tens of millions of pounds’) had sought to prejudice the mother’s claims via transferring his valuable shares to family members, who then transferred the same into a trust structure (settled under Czech law). A further onwards transfer was then made of the trust’s assets into a Liechtenstein foundation. Inferences were drawn by the court in respect of the level of the father’s wealth, and specifically as to the value of the transferred shares. Detailed findings were made against him in respect of the identified transactions, which had been the focus of the mother’s section 423 application. Although a section 423(2) order was not actually made, the application was adjourned pending the father’s compliance with the award, with security in the sum of £600,000 also ordered, alongside a continuation of the freezing orders made earlier in the proceedings. David Wilkinson, solicitor at Slater Heelis, considers the issues.

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