TORONTO -- A British court has dismissed the case of a 41-year-old man who sought to receive financial support from his “enormously wealthy” parents.
The man, known only as FS in court documents, says he’s been unemployed since 2011 and faces ongoing mental health issues that were not discussed in detail before the court. His lawyers argued that for the last 20 years or so his parents – who live abroad in Dubai – have nurtured their son’s dependency on them.
According to court documents, the man’s parents have been supporting him financially for many years by allowing him to live in an apartment they own in central London while they pay the bills.
The son – who has several educational and professional qualifications, including a masters degree in taxation – now believes that his parents have a duty to protect and support him, but that they are choosing to abandon him and “cast that dependency onto the State.”
Lawyers involved in the case noted that the relationship between the man and his parents had deteriorated over the years, specifically between father and son, leading to a significant reduction in the amount of financial support the parents were willing to offer.
The man insists that his parents are very wealthy and have more than enough money to comfortably meet any order imposed by the court.
The judge ultimately ruled in favour of the parents and the son is now on the hook for nearly $74,000 in legal fees.
“This is a most unusual case,” wrote the judge, Sir James Munby, before calling the case an “unedifying and really rather sad dispute.”
In his decision, Munby noted that the proceeding was “a fundamental abuse of process,” and a “waste of court resources.”
He also denied the son’s right to appeal the decision.
