Court reduces wife's maintenance claim after financial disclosure issues.
The Western Cape High Court in Cape Town has significantly reduced a woman's interim maintenance claim during divorce proceedings after finding that she failed to make full and frank disclosure of her financial circumstances.
Judge Pinda Njokweni warned the wife that Rule 43 applications are not intended to provide an indefinite "meal ticket" for spouses.
Judge Njokweni ruled that while the wife was entitled to interim financial assistance pending the finalisation of her divorce, her conduct in the litigation and the shortcomings in her financial disclosures justified a substantially lower maintenance award than she had originally sought.
The case arose from a Rule 43 application brought by the wife seeking interim maintenance for herself and the two children while divorce proceedings continue.
