Woman Earning US$2 830 Loses Bid To Make Husband Earning US$900 Pay Her Lawyers
By Fanuel Viriri
A Harare woman earning US$2,830 per month – three times more than what her civil servant husband earns – has lost a bid to have her husband pay her lawyers. The divorce pre-trial continues.
Tamanda Sarah Jane Benyure had asked the High Court to order her husband Colin Tichaona Benyure to pay her USD$4,000 for legal costs in their divorce case under Rule 67 of the High Court Rules.
Rule 67 allows a spouse who has no money to ask the court to order the other spouse who has money to contribute to legal costs.
Benyure told the court that although she earns USD$2,830, the money is only enough for herself and their child and she cannot afford lawyers.
She claimed her husband withdrew USD$100,000 from their joint account without her knowledge, that he is a medical doctor who gets money from the International Medical Fund, and that he runs a Family Trust with two properties that gives him rental income.
Her husband opposed, saying he is a civil servant earning ZWL$24,000 which is equivalent to USD$900. He said his wife has no rent obligations, collected all her movable property, her generator loan has been repaid, and he pays school fees when the child is in his custody.
He said the USD$100,000 is already subject to division in the divorce where his wife is claiming USD$50,000 of it, and that the USD$1,000 from the International Medical Fund was a once-off payment. He produced his employment contract and ZIMRA tax returns to show his private practice is not generating income.
Justice Gladys Mhuri dismissed the application.
The judge said the wife failed to prove she is without means to defend the divorce, failed to explain how she uses her USD$2,830, and failed to justify how the USD$4,000 legal costs were arrived at. She also failed to produce bank statements to prove her husband receives regular income from the Fund.
The court also noted that the divorce matter is already at Pre-Trial Conference stage, meaning she has been able to pay her lawyers all along.
The application was dismissed with costs in the cause.