Brittany Higgins’ bombshell move as legal bills mount
Brittany Higgins is selling her French getaway to find legal bills.
A pregnant Brittany Higgins has reportedly decided to sell her house in France to fund her costly defamation defence against her former boss.
Higgins, who revealed last week that she is pregnant with her first child, moved to France a year ago with husband David Sharaz.
But she told News.com.au on Monday that the couple planned to sell the home they bought in the French countryside to fund her defence against a defamation claim brought by Liberal senator Linda Reynolds – which is expected to cost about $1 million.
“Brittany relocated overseas to heal and escape the online attacks she received, particularly in the wake of the Channel Seven Spotlight program,’’ a spokesperson for Higgins said.
“This will be Brittany’s third court case and one of numerous legal processes surrounding her rape at Parliament House.
“The legal costs have already amounted to well over a million dollars and will continue to grow with the defamation action brought about by Senator Reynolds.
“The price of speaking out about sexual assault remains unspeakably high.
“Brittany is now forced to sell her home in order to defend herself again.”
It is not known if the couple plan to return to Australia permanently.
Monday’s announcement follows revelations in court last week that Higgins has less than $10,000 in assets. The rest of her multimillion-dollar Commonwealth payout is locked away in a managed trust.
Reynolds last week won the right to access details of the trust as part of her continued legal action against Higgins. She is suing the former Liberal staffer over social media posts she says damaged her reputation.
The trial is due to begin in August.
The trust was created in late 2022 to hold the proceeds of a $2.4 million financial settlement from the federal government amid claims Higgins was not supported by Reynolds after Bruce Lehrmann allegedly raped her.
Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett told the Supreme Court in Perth last Wednesday that his client wanted the document to understand who the trustee is and what jurisdiction’s laws are relevant to it.
It could lead to Reynolds instigating further court action to have trust funds restored to Higgins before the defamation trial judgment is handed down.
“[It] is likely to be the only process by which Senator Reynolds recovers damages and costs in the event she’s successful,” he said outside court.
“If you’re out of pocket, and you’ve mortgaged your house to the hilt to pay for litigation, recovering those costs is something you try and do as soon as possible.”
Last week, the court was told an affidavit penned by one of Higgins’ lawyers, Leon Zwier, in June stated she had net assets worth less than $10,000.
“We know that from all intents and purposes, Ms Higgins leads a wonderful lifestyle of travel and events,” Bennett said as he outlined the reasons why his client wanted to access the trust deed.
Chief Justice Quinlan concluded it was in the interests of justice for Reynolds to be granted discovery of the trust documents.
He also said it may be the only way Reynolds could collect damages if she won her defamation case – before urging the parties to resolve their disputes before the trial.
“I don’t want to sound like King Canute trying to hold back the ocean,” he said.
“It’s not too late for these parties to take the resolution of all disputes between them into their own hands.”
Lehrmann denied raping Higgins. The criminal case against him ended in a mistrial, with prosecutors withdrawing the charge and ruling out a retrial due to concern for Higgins’ mental health.
In April, Justice Michael Lee found to the civil standard that Lehrmann did, on the balance of probabilities, rape Higgins and dismissed his defamation proceedings against Network Ten. He has since appealed that decision.
-with AAP
