Compensation for sacrificed career debate re-ignites

The debate has been re-ignited as to what rights women have to be compensated for lost earnings on divorce as a result of a wife having given up a career in order to bring up children.

There are a myriad of examples of this and in general neither party even considers the concept of compensation as the available assets and income base simply do not allow for it. However in a recent case the husband is a high-flying city accountant earning £800,000 per annum and the family assets total £11 million.

The wife had been finance director for a major company earning similar sums to the husband before their children came along. She has taken grave exception to the court’s suggestion that she can live on £80,000pa and should downsize her home (a £1.75 million property) for a smaller (£1.25 million) house in order to allow for capital to be invested to produce some income and is seeking a greater reward to reflect her sacrifice.

Watch this space…

Nicola Furmston is a solicitor specialising in the family field at Barker Gotelee, Solicitors in Ipswich.