Wednesday 2 March 2011

From wife’s inheritance of £57 million, is a £5 million award to the husband on divorce the right decision?

The Court of Appeal has just heard an interesting case regarding the division of an inheritance in divorce proceedings.

The case concerned a couple who had been married for 20 years. The wife had, prior to the marriage, inherited £57 million. Throughout the marriage, neither party had worked, choosing to be ‘stay at home’ parents and not pursue careers. The court in the first instance awarded the husband £5 million of the overall assets and the husband appealed this, saying that the award was ‘minimalist’.

The husband’s barrister argued that if the roles were reversed, and it was the husband who had inherited wealth of this magnitude, on divorce the wife would have been awarded a sum greater than £5 million. He also commented that it was more difficult to secure a husband a large settlement when the wealth belonged to the wife. The barrister added that this may be because generally speaking, husbands are perceived to be breadwinners, and to support the family financially and therefore, it has to be taken into account that the wife has not worked or built up a career or assets of her own.

Can it be argued that by virtue of not working and being a homemaker, the husband has sacrificed a career and therefore has suffered a disadvantage as a result of the marriage? It appeared to be a joint decision that neither the husband nor the wife would work, and that the wife’s inheritance would be used to support the family. If the husband does not receive a sum equal to what a wife would receive if the roles were reversed, would it be a matter of gender discrimination?

Inheritance on divorce is a grey area. If such inheritance was received prior to the marriage, it may be considered not to form part of the marital assets. However, in the case of a long marriage, pre-martial assets can often ‘merge’ with any assets accrued during the marriage and hence be included in the “matrimonial pot” to be divided on divorce.

In some cases, credit can be given to a spouse who has made a significant effort to increase the value of assets or the level of income during the marriage but in this case, the lawyers for the husband argued that the wife had made no “special contribution” to the assets of the marriage.

Do you think that this award accurately reflects what the husband in such a situation should receive? Or do you think that in a marriage as long as this, the assets should be divided equally and the husband compensated for his lack of career? We would like to know your views.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/8354580/Divorced-husband-fights-for-more-of-ex-wifes-57-million-fortune.html


Sharon Powell and Anne Thomas, Hart Brown Family Department

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