Landmark case sets legal precedent for reopening divorce settlements

In a landmark ruling today the Supreme Court has granted permission to two women to re-open their financial settlements made on divorce due to their husbands giving misleading information regarding the extent of their true financial wealth during negotiations.

In the first case the husband engineered a valuation for his business at between £31 million and £47 million but in subsequent press reports it was valued at £1 billion. The Supreme Court justice today said that the husband had been fraudulent and that this could not be overlooked.

In the second case the husband’s assets meant a total divorce settlement of £270,000 and a Peugeot car to the wife but he was subsequently jailed for assisting someone in stealing £50 million.

Both wives will now mount their financial claims again from scratch. Mrs Sharland, the first wife has been criticised for pursuing this appeal on the basis that she is, in any event, a rich woman, but family law practitioners will in the main applaud her courage as the legal precedent set will trickle down to much lower value cases and few, other than the super-wealthy can afford to go to the Supreme Court.

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