VT v LT
[2023] EWFC 256 (B)
KD v SD
18 November 2024
[2024] EWFC 334 (B)
Family Court
A couple divorced. The husband got most of the assets because he's been caring for their children alone. The wife got some money and a share of his pension.
Key Facts
- •Final financial remedies judgment in a case ongoing since 2017.
- •Both parties are litigants in person.
- •Five-year marriage with four years of pre-marital cohabitation.
- •Wife accuses husband of domestic abuse and child alienation.
- •Children (aged 17 and 16) live with the husband and have not seen their mother since November 2020, except briefly in 2021.
- •Children's lack of desire to see their mother is attributed to the wife's relationship with a man convicted of child sex offences.
- •Main assets: equity in the matrimonial home (£194,000 after mortgage discharge and sale expenses) and husband's pensions.
- •Husband's gross annual income: £32,603.37; Wife's gross annual income: £12,000.
- •Wife's open position: 40% of equity (£77,600); Husband's offer: £23,000 (11.85% of net equity).
Legal Principles
Distribution of matrimonial assets fairly, considering factors in Section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973.
Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, Section 25
Conduct threshold for financial remedies, as elaborated by Peel J in N V J [2024] EWFC 184.
N V J [2024] EWFC 184
Outcomes
Substantial departure from equal division of assets in favor of the husband.
Husband's sole responsibility for children's care since November 2020, relatively short marriage, husband's greater financial contribution, wife's limited income and earning capacity.
Husband to pay wife 22% of the net equity: £22,627 immediately via remortgaging and an additional £20,000 within 6 months of the youngest child's 18th birthday.
Reflects husband's capacity to remortgage and accounts for his sole responsibility for the children. Additional payment secured by charge.
Pension share to be ordered to reflect contributions during the nine-year cohabitation, aiming for equality of income at age 60.
To address the wife's minimal pension provision.
Parties to jointly instruct a solicitor to draft the order, legal charge, and pension share.
To ensure compliance with the court's judgement and facilitate an orderly execution of the financial arrangements.