Family

Any good family lawyer will tell you that the best way of minimising the expense and stress of divorce proceedings is to be straightforwardly honest. The point was well made by a case in which a successful property developer paid heavily for his misguided attempts to deny his ex-wife a just settlement. During their 25-year-marriage, the couple, who had three children, enjoyed a lavish lifestyle, spending substantial sums on holidays, restaurants, works of art and jewellery. Post separation, however, the husband claimed that his business had fallen into grave difficulties and that his liabilities exceeded the total value of the marital assets by more than £8 million. The wife argued that he had fabricated or exaggerated those liabilities in an attempt to defeat her claim. In ruling on the matter, a judge accepted that some of the husband’s development projects had ... Read more