The Family Court has frozen a father’s £8.6million assets and ordered that periodic payments to support his daughter should be capitalised into a lump sum. 

The issue arose because the father had repeatedly failed to make the required payments. 

The case involved a child called Zoe, not her real name, who was born in October 2020. Her parents were not married and had separated before she was born. The mother lives in London and the father moved to the United States. 

Zoe has a congenital heart defect and will need special care throughout her childhood. 

Following legal proceedings, the court ordered that the father should pay £3.65m as a housing fund and further periodic payments for a nanny until Zoe reached 9 years old. 

He was also ordered to pay for the costs of extra support for Zoe at school, for health insurance, therapies for Zoe, and flights to and from the USA. 

The father failed to make the payments, so the mother applied for his assets to be frozen and for the payments to be capitalised into a lump sum to provide Zoe with the security and care she needed. 

The court granted the application and made a worldwide freezing order for £8.6million in the autumn of 2023. A further hearing was scheduled to allow the father to apply to vary or set aside the order, but he did not attend or engage with the process. 

Given his refusal to take part in the proceedings, the court continued the freezing order to prevent the father disposing or concealing assets to avoid justice. 

The judge also held that the periodic payments should be capitalised into a fund to be managed on Zoe’s behalf by professional administrators. 

The mother was also awarded costs.