Ivana Trump said, famously: “Don’t get mad. Get everything!” It appears that Julia McFarlane, the former wife of high-flying accountant Kenneth McFarlane, has taken these words to heart.

The judgment in the latest installment of the never-ending divorce saga that is McFarlane  v McFarlane, (2009 EWHC 891) landed on my desk yesterday morning. A judgment from Mr. Justice Charles, it is characteristically lengthy. Thirty-five pages in length, it takes a long time to read . It takes even longer to consider the meaning and impact, this judgment being his Lordship’s interpretation of what the House of Lords may have had in mind (but never expressly stated) by a “deferred clean break”, payable at some stage in the future, by Mr McFarlane to his former wife.

I was in two minds whether to write about the latest twist; after all, what relevance does any of it have to those of us who live relatively modestly in the real world? However, this case has wider implications. It reminds me of a seesaw. On one end: the stay-at-home wife and her children. On the other: the working wife and her children. In the middle, sliding from one end to the other: the husband. Does English family law substantially favour the stay-at-home wife, at the working wife’s expense? Does it curtail a second wife’s freedom to leave her job and become a stay-at-home mum?

Let me explain. Continue reading »

 You may remember that I recently looked at the case of a Mr and Mrs Bokor-Ingram. I examined the Mesher order to which the wife had agreed; at the time, she did not know that Mr Bokor-Ingram’s finances were a lot healthier than she had been led to believe. After discovering that her husband had been negotiating a better-paid job at the time of the split, Mrs Bokor-Ingram took her husband back to court. She argued that if she had known the truth, she would never have agreed to the Mesher arrangement in relation to the couple’s former marital home. The case went as far as the Court of Appeal; Mrs Bokor-Ingram finally settled out of court, with the BBC reporting that the ownership of the house would be transferred to her in full.

Although that case is now closed, there has now been a further development. It’s an interesting one and, since my post about Mesher and Martin orders has become one of this blog’s most popular pages, I’d like to share it with you and find out what you think.

When I first wrote about this case, I focused upon the Mesher order because I was not happy that the husband had, in effect, been allowed to get away with his non-disclosure. When the case was heard in the High Court the judge, Mr Justice Charles, found that its outcome was not prejudiced by the husband’s failure to disclose that he had a lucrative employment contract in the offing. He appears to have concluded that because the proposed contract was unsigned, it should not have been disclosed.

The Court of Appeal has now taken the unusual step of giving Mr Justice Charles’ judgment a red light, even though this case had settled before they heard it. This public judgment was published on 26 May. I view it as a robust and salutary reminder to practitioners and clients, that full and frank disclosure must always be made. Read it, and you will see that they make no bones about this. Continue reading »

Some of the cases with which I become involved strike me as “entrapment”.

Following my comments about cohabitation, Mr. Justice Charles, a veritable Sir Lancelot in shining armour, rides to the rescue!

I am often asked to advise mothers who have not married their partners. They need to know the financial settlements they can expect for themselves and their children when cohabitation breaks down. The reasons why they have never married are varied.

In cases involving wealthy men, I have often found that the husband’s fear of paying a substantial divorce settlement is a key factor. Such men view themselves as open chequebooks. Yet they also want to have their fun. That usually includes an attractive woman and unprotected sex.

Some of the cases with which I become involved strike me as “entrapment”. I can recall one wealthy client, who had to confront a paternity suit from a Russian nightclub hostess after a one night stand. He had been wined and dined in a London club and, having drunk too much, had picked up the stunning looking woman. Following unprotected sex, the woman announced that she was pregnant – and paternity tests would later confirm that he was the father. This man was unlucky. Before the child was even born he was faced with the mother’s applications for housing, maintenance and capital.

Continue reading »