Swiss husband ordered to pay R277,000 in maintenance despite skiing accident excuses

The Western Cape High Court has reminded a Swiss husband of his legal obligation to pay maintenance to his estranged wife, even if only interim payments as stipulated in a court order pending their final divorce.

The court dismissed his claims of a skiing accident as an excuse for his failure to pay, ordering him to settle R277,000 in overdue maintenance.

This must be done within 15 days and if he failed, his wife was granted permission to immediately launch contempt of court proceedings against him.

The wife, who lives in Cape Town, turned to court as she wants her husband, from whom she is not yet divorced, to honour his maintenance obligations as per a previous court order.

The husband was earlier ordered to pay R31 773 per month, effective from September 1, 2022, towards his wife’s upkeep, pending their divorce.

While he did pay for a while, he simply stopped the payments.

He explained that in January 2023, while skiing with his family in Grindelwald, he had an accident as he fell and hit his head. He was hospitalised the same day and was discharged the following day.

Pursuant to the injury, he felt confused and disoriented and had a headache. He subsequently collapsed and was taken to the hospital.

The court said, as pointed out by his wife, the husband had enough money as the funds are in Swiss francs, one of the strongest currencies in the world.

The husband could have easily made payments to the applicant in rands, which is weaker than the Swiss franc, it said.

But what was most concerning to the court was the fact the husband pleaded poverty, while it came to light that he was a beneficiary of a R20.3 million trust fund.

“The respondent (husband) is fully capable of accessing his portion of these funds to pay maintenance to the applicant as per the court order,” the judge said.

Cape Argus