Key Facts
- •Three-year childless marriage.
- •Wife's assets: approximately £61.5 million (husband claims closer to £74 million).
- •Husband's assets: approximately £850,000 (partially illiquid).
- •Wife's annual income: approximately £600,000 (husband claims closer to £1 million).
- •Husband currently unemployed due to medical reasons.
- •Prenuptial agreement signed on the day of the marriage, stipulating separate property and no claims against each other.
- •Husband's initial claim: £10 million; revised claim: £2.4 million.
- •Wife's costs: £600,000; Husband's costs: £450,000.
- •Wife offered husband £800,000 on 25 September 2023.
Legal Principles
Prenuptial agreements should be given decisive weight unless unfair.
Granatino v Radmacher
The court must avoid sexual or gender discrimination.
Granatino v Radmacher
In assessing needs post-separation, the court considers all circumstances, including the length of the marriage and pre-marital cohabitation.
Section 25 Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, RW v GW, VV v VV
The court should place little reliance on witnesses' recollections of conversations, preferring documentary evidence.
Gestmin v Credit Suisse
A lie does not automatically equate to guilt; consider reasons for lying (shame, panic, etc.).
R v Lucas
Outcomes
Prenuptial agreement upheld, with variations to address husband's reasonable needs.
The agreement was freely entered into, despite some issues with disclosure. The husband's needs are addressed through a lump sum payment, acknowledging the husband's limited liquid assets and unemployment.
Husband awarded a lump sum of £400,000.
This accounts for his reasonable needs, including medical treatment, relocation costs, and short-term living expenses in Dubai, while respecting the prenuptial agreement's core principles.
Husband's claims for a property purchase and full legal costs rejected.
These claims were deemed excessive and not warranted given the circumstances of the short, childless marriage and the existence of a prenuptial agreement.