Monday, January 19th, 2009
A husband has won his appeal against a court order that he should transfer 30% of his assets to his wife following their divorce.
The Court of Appeal said the order was excessive considering that the marriage had not lasted very long and the husband had acquired most of his assets after the couple had separated.
For the duration of the marriage the couple had lived in the husband’s local authority flat. He acquired the right to buy shortly after his wife moved in. The couple had two children but the marriage only lasted four years.
The wife moved to another local authority flat while the husband remained in the marital home. He exercised his right to buy and then sold the flat at a good price. He put the profit towards another property which he bought with the help of a loan from his family.
The wife then applied for ancillary relief. The court ordered that the husband should pay her a lump sum of £75,000 and also make periodical payments.
However, the Court of Appeal has now overturned that order describing it as excessive given the short duration of the marriage. The order for periodical payments was struck out because the court held that a clean break was appropriate in this case. The lump sum payable to the wife was reduced to £40,000.
Please contact Marie Stock if you would like more information about divorce issues.
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