De Souza v Figueiredo

Facts

The applicant mother and the respondent father were parties to financial proceedings in the Family Court at Kingston upon Thames concerning provision for their child. The mother had been evicted from her original home with the child and had been staying, through the kindness of a friend, at that friend's property, but that arrangement was due to end on 17 June, the friend requiring some form of planning permission to carry out works. A further offer from a friend of accommodation while the friend was away would run for only six weeks. The mother was in receipt of universal credit, a means-tested award, and the father contended that she in fact had ample money to house herself and the child. The mother had found a landlord willing to rent to her at £3,000 per month, but six months' rent, £21,000, had to be paid in advance. The father, whose income exceeded £250,000 per annum, said he had no monies available to make a lump sum payment and contended that, absent evidence of his finances, the court could not make an order. He also characterised the application as an orchestrated ambush. The mother applied for an interim lump sum to meet the child's housing needs before the matter could return to court.