One of the biggest issues for parties facing divorce and seeking to instruct representation is funding legal fees. Quite often one party - more commonly the woman - will have no source of independent income and may not have assets in her name against which she can borrow. When divorcing a high-net-worth individual, who has limitless resources, the effects of the disparity may be compounded.

There is an expectation that the party with access to family or independent wealth will pay both parties’ legal fees, but this is not obligatory, and it is common to find that the paying party will not agree. These tactics are often deployed...