O'Donnell v O'Donnell

Richard Buswell (instructed on a direct access basis) for the respondent who did not attend

    In this case, I have before me an application by Lucy O�Donnell to whom I shall refer as the wife, against Charles O�Donnell, to whom I shall refer to as the husband.

    This is a committal application arising out of a number of alleged breaches of an order which I made on 1 March 2022.

    At that stage, it was thought that this was conditional upon a life interest of the husband�s father. In due course it emerged that it was expected that interest would be paid out at a date which has now passed and it is fair to say we do not know for sure whether it has been paid out or not. What we do know for sure is that the husband has not paid the wife anything. Insofar as he has received anything; he has not paid anything to the wife.

    The wife, believing that the husband has been paid out, has pursued enforcement proceedings. The difficulty is that the trust is held in the USA and so, in geographical terms, it is distant and perhaps difficult for her to engage in direct enforcement proceedings. Thus the wife�s decision to engage in enforcement proceedings in the UK, in particular two committal applications.