Sabrina Pool v Jean-Paul Pool

Facts

The applicant wife, Sabrina Pool, sought financial remedies following a marriage that lasted from 1998 to 2018, her application being essentially for the transfer of a tenancy into her sole name. She petitioned for divorce in 2024 and negotiations followed. In March 2025 the parties appeared to have agreed that the tenancy would be transferred to the wife, and the respondent husband, Jean-Paul Pool, instructed Ash Solicitors of West London to prepare a consent order. The wife, wishing to exchange financial disclosure before agreeing to a dismissal of claims, instructed MacKenzie & Co, who issued these proceedings at the beginning of October. By 17 November 2025 Ash Solicitors indicated that they were without instructions, save that the husband had told them he was sick; that appears to have been the last they heard from him, and he has filed no documents and taken no part in the proceedings. Shortly before the First Appointment listed for 4 February 2026, Ash Solicitors went on the record and filed a position statement asserting that it was "common knowledge" that the husband was in no fit mental state to participate, but did not attend the hearing or explain their absence. The court ordered a medical report as to capacity, adjourned the First Appointment, directed the firm to file an explanatory statement, and indicated that wasted costs would be considered.