There Is No Hiding From The Arm Of The Law

There is no hiding from the arm of the law?

Men, as part of their bravado, sometimes threaten to jack in their jobs, give their money and assets away or put it in trust to avoid paying their ex-Mrs when they feel they have been wrong?

Others just refuse to engage with the process thinking it will eventually go away and they can carry on with their lives as if the marriage hasn’t broken down or they can avoid a facial settlement being made against them?

Here is the length one husband (H) went to and the law had long arms…10 year long arms in fact!

Facts:

16-year marriage with two children. The couple enjoyed a relatively high standard of living during the marriage H, his Wife (W) and their two children moved to the UK in 2015 on the basis that Company X intended to purchase H's company for ￡80,000,000 and he needed to be in London

H showed W a sale contract and bank statement indicating that company X had made a down payment of ￡8,000,000, in order to persuade her to move to London

The Judge found that H dishonestly and falsely manufactured a bank statement to mislead W into moving to London and that there was never a payment of ￡8,000,000. Generally, H was found to be dishonest and unreliable. H failed to disclose his financial disclosure documents as ordered throughout the proceedings. The court case was adjourned 3 times before the final hearing due to H failing to engage with the process, not filing his Form E and providing his financial disclosure

At the first final hearing (the 4th court hearing) the case was adjourned part-heard again due to H's non-disclosure. His financial position was difficult for the court to establish due to his non-disclosure and poor credibility as a witness

He claimed to have no assets, to owe debts of ￡2,000,000 and to have been declared bankrupt in his home country.?

He produced documents purporting to be from the tax authorities in his home country showing debts of ￡1,000,000, the validity of which was doubted by the court?

His bank statements showed expensive holidays, flights by private plane and money transfers to his girlfriend

No assets in H's name had been identified and there was insufficient evidence for the court to make adverse inferences as to H's available assets

The law states:

“If a litigant engages in conduct, which may include full or partial non-disclosure, which causes the court to conclude that a once-off division of capital now is likely to cause unfairness and injustice to the other party then the court, in exception to the normal practice, has the discretion to decide that the normal desirability of finality in litigation should be overridden to preserve the possibility of a fair outcome for the parties."?

The Judge concluded that the present case meets this test

The Judge considered a 10-year adjournment was appropriate in order to give W an opportunity to have a fair chance of receiving some capital while considering the interest in the finality of litigation

H was ordered to pay spousal periodical payments of ￡5,000 per month to W, for the benefit of W and the children, beginning 9 months after judgment to give H time to re-establish himself in a Chief-technical Officer-type role, and ending on 1 August 2023 reflecting the same period as the adjournment of W's capital claims

The ￡5,000 represents the figure that H could reasonably be expected to contribute given his earning capacity - assessed at ￡300,000 per annum, so not what he was currently earning

The moral of this case is?

Man up and engage in the process because otherwise you could be putting your life financially on hold for 10 years and run the risk of being penniless if the person you have transferred your money to runs off with it..in this case, the girlfriend?

Better to have a strategy and a plan of action and broker a deal that works for you and allows you to live your life once the divorce is over?

If you need help with your strategy and plan then I would love to work with you?

Taking all the drama out of divorce