Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

England and Wales High Court: Third-party debt orders cannot compel pension drawdown; uncrystallised funds not 'money' under CPR 72 (Zubarev v Singh [2025] EWHC 2242 (Ch))

Published on: 05 September 2025

Published by a Law360 reporter

Legal News

Article summary

High Court Master Matthew Marsh stated he did not consider himself able to confirm as final the interim third‑party debt orders aimed at the personal pensions of Ratna Singh, former Chief Executive of Integrated Health Partners Ltd, and Oliver Bernath, a former director, notwithstanding what he described as compelling grounds. The claimants had attempted to oblige the defendants to withdraw pension monies so a liability would crystallise, capable of enforcement through third‑party debt orders. According to Judge Marsh, Singh and Bernath have acted in an abusive manner since being ordered to pay investors Ilya Zubarev and Serg Bell about US$1.6m in December 2022. The pair, the judge observed, have gone out of their way to cause the claimants added difficulty and cost. Even so, Judge Marsh refused to render the interim orders final. His reasoning was that, at the time of the application, no actual, presently enforceable debt existed because the personal pensions had not been converted into cash at that time and in those circumstances, he said (i.e...

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