Andrew Brown represented the successful Respondents in the appeal of Peter Herbert Fowlds v Sean Bucknall & Mark Peter George Roach (As trustees in bankruptcy of Peter Herbert Fowlds) heard by Mr Justice Marcus Smith in the High Court on 5 February 2020.

The appeal centred on the issue of whether a Court should have regard to the needs of an estranged, and allegedly dependent, wife of a bankrupt when making an income payment order under s.310 Insolvency Act 1986.  The judge found that the Court should be slow to exercise a discretion to take into account the needs of family members not resident with the bankrupt and otherwise falling within the definition in s.310(2) Insolvency Act 1986, and in any event, it is for a bankrupt and the allegedly dependent third-party to prove the financial needs and resources of the claimed dependent, which in the present case the judge at first instance was entitled to find had simply not been provided.

This case should give useful guidance on the oft overlooked area of income payment orders, and on an issue which had not previously been addressed in case-law.

Andrew was instructed by Edward Bible of Coffin Mew LLP.