The Telegraph reports that a businessman asked his ex-wife to carry on living in their marital home as a housekeeper after he moved in mistress in, and was apparently at a loss when she expressed her displeasure at his suggestion.
But she ended up with the last laugh, as on Wednesday 29 January 2014, the Family Division of the High Court ruled that she was entitled to nearly half of her former husband’s £13.6 million fortune.
Although the couple divorced during the 1990s they carried on living together, until he met another woman and moved her and her five year old daughter into the marital home.
She then moved out and sued for more than 6 million GBP. Her former husband argued she had previously agreed she would only ever be entitled to 3.4 million GBP, but she argued that was under duress.
This case highlights that a claim for financial assets does not necessarily need to be brought at the time of the divorce and can be brought at any time up until a new marriage happens.
It is also a helpful reminder of the benefits that prenuptial agreements bring as litigation can be an unpredictable process. In the event of a divorce, a prenuptial agreement can assist with dividing the marital assets. But be careful. A Thailand prenuptial agreement is null and void unless it is officially registered in Thailand before the marriage. In the US and other western countries, it is generally a private agreement between parties and is not registered with the government.
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