Treatment of non-matrimonial property
FACTS
- The parties married in December 2000 when H was 68 and W 51. It was a second marriage for both parties.
- The assets were valued at just over £10m. They were made up primarily of a portfolio of investment properties and the shares in two care home businesses: HL Limited and NE Limited. The property portfolio made up 68% of H’s wealth. The shares in NE Limited were divided 2.38% to W and the remainder was held by H. The shares in HL Limited were held 35% by H, 25% by W (which H had gifted her from his original 60% share) and 40% by T (H’s daughter).
- W argued that she was entitled to an award based on full sharing. She relied on alleged promises made by H that when they started cohabiting she would get a 50% interest in the FMH and care home business. W argued that there was a written agreement signed by the parties in November 1997 that she would hold a 50% interest in the FMH. No agreement was produced at court, W accusing H of its disappearance. W further argued that the work she put in to the care homes to make then financially viable and no longer loss making should be recognised.
- W sought to live in one of the properties within H’s property portfolio worth £780,000 (244FR). She sought a further £200,000 in order to undertake work to the property, which was currently divided into three self-contained studios. W sought a further property from the portfolio (5QG) worth approximately £4m. The property produced a net income of £140,000 per annum.
- H argued that his pre-acquired wealth required any award to be made on the basis of W’s needs only. H claimed there had been no sharing agreements with W. He also disputed that the care homes were ‘teetering on the edge of insolvency’ at the time he met W. H offered to pay W £1m on the basis that she transfer to him her 2.38% in NE Limited and her interest in a Spanish property owned by the parties. W could keep the £550,000 obtained from her 25% share in HE Limited upon its sale. The remainder of her award would produce a Duxbury income of £50,000 per year for life.
- H produced a schedule showing his worth to be £5.6m in April 1998 prior to the parties’ marriage.
HELD