Ex-wife allowed to make a claim 23 years after divorce
The Supreme Court made a decision on 11th March 2015, which emphasised the importance of obtaining a clean break consent order, at the same time as parties get divorced.
The divorce process only deals with dissolving the marriage; it does not deal with any financial issues relating to that separation. In this most recent decision, Vince v Wyatt, the parties separated in 1984 and the divorce was finalised in 1992, but they did not deal with any financial issues. The husband, Mr Vince has since accumulated substantial wealth and the former wife, Mrs Wyatt made an application with the court to try and seek a share of that wealth. This application has been upheld, which means that even though the parties have been separated now for over 30 years, the wife is still able to make such a claim.
What her entitlement will be, is at this stage unknown, due to various factors the courts have to take into account, but what this case does highlight, is the importance of obtaining a consent order, at the same time as the divorce. Even if there are no assets to consider at that time, a consent order can still be made.
Jo Edwards, chair of family lawyers group Resolution, said: 'The Supreme Court has made it clear that the draconian power to strike out family proceedings simply does not exist, but stress that the court will consider the merits of such applications on a case-by-case basis.
'If Ms Wyatt had lost her appeal, Resolution was concerned that people without access to legal advice as a result of the legal aid cuts would have been at risk of having their applications struck out without proper consideration simply because of delay, along arbitrary lines.'
She added: 'But it’s also important that people who have become wealthy over time are not exposed to potentially opportunistic claims many years after a marriage has broken down. We want to see reform of the law around financial provision on divorce. Part of that is a desire for greater clarity and a clearer intention to get couples to financial independence sooner.”
If you’d like more information regarding divorce and finances, please contact James Haworth at Lawson-West on 0116 212 1000.
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