The Court of Appeal has ruled that a man who had been married for 1,000 days must pay his ex wife £5m.   Such large sums are rare. In most divorces there are hardly enough assets to go around in setting up two homes, post divorce.
 
Mr Miller had a fortune valued at £30 million to £36 million.  His ex wife had been earning £85,000 a year when they married but stopped work. Lord Justice Thorpe said that by marrying her, Mr Miller had given his wife an expectation of a significantly better standard of living. He also said it was significant that the marriage had broken down because Mr Miller left her for another woman, whom he had since married.  He was ordered to pay his former wife a lump sum of £2.7 million, and to pay off the £500,000 mortgage on their £2.3 million former matrimonial home in Chelsea and give it to her. There were no children, although she did suffer a miscarriage.  The case has been seen by family lawyers as a test case for short, childless marriages involving wealthy people.  Most people are not in that category. The law is in fact sexually neutral in divorce cases and in some cases higher earning wives similarly have to make large pay outs to lesser earning husbands. However in most cases both parties are left in a worse financial position. 

Malcolm Brunwin can advise you on your financial position on divorce or other issues relating to family law. Contact him for further information, by calling 01491 572138.