The most expensive divorce in history

'The most expensive divorce in history' ends after Russian billionaire reaches deal with ex-wife
Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and his ex-wife Elena appear to have reached an amicable deal
The saga of what was dubbed “the most expensive divorce in history” has apparently ended after Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and his ex-wife Elena said they had reached an amicable deal.
The former couple did not reveal the size of the monetary settlement but said in a joint statement that the deal on the terms of the divorce "puts an end to all legal procedures launched in different jurisdictions".
Mr Rybolovlev, 48, who became wealthy during the post-Soviet privatisation of the Russian economy, has been in the news this year after his legal battle with Swiss art dealer, Yves Bouvier.
As The Telegraph reports “The Russian oligarch, who owns AS Monaco football team and lives in the Mediterranean principality, accuses Mr Bouvier of selling him art works of Picasso, Modigliani, Degas and Gauguin at hugely inflated prices.”
His bitter and very public divorce battle began in 2008 – after a 23-year-long marriage – and worked its way through the courts until May 2014, when a Swiss tribunal awarded Elena Rybolovlev more four billion Swiss francs (£2.7 billion).
Mrs Rybolovlev’s court documents contained claims about lavish yacht parties where her husband allegedly shared “young conquests with his friends, and other oligarchs.”
But an appeals court in Geneva in June this year overturned that ruling, downgrading the payment to 564 million francs, with two real estate holdings thrown in for good measure.
One of the contentious points was Mr Rybolovlev's worth, as he had transferred shares in 2005 to a trust and then sold them three years later at a huge profit.
His ex-wife's lawyers argued that the appeals court calculated his net worth on the basis of the 2005 figures and not the 2008 numbers, and claimed that he was trying to hide assets that included Greek islands, a New York penthouse worth $88 million, and a $95 million Palm Beach mansionbought from Donald Trump.
The full story can be read in The Telegraph here

“Conventional housewife” leaves court with 90% of the family fortune.

A stay at home Mum who was criticised by her ex-husband for not bringing in more money after they split has been granted nearly all the family fortune by divorce judge.  Mrs Morris had previously quit her job as a recruitment consultant to stay at home and bring up their three children for 20 years.

The couple’s spending - described as “extravagant” both during and after their marriage break up, meant that their multi million pound family assets were reduced to £560,000.

As the Telegraph reports “Mrs Morris, who was praised by divorce judge, Glen Brasse, as having been a "competent and effective operator" during her pre-marriage career, "stayed at home to look after the home and care for the children by agreement with her husband."

Mr Morris’s lifestyle "continued as a very affluent affair", mounting up huge debts after taking up to six holidays in the space of just nine months.  Judge Brasse pointed to Mr Morris’s substantially larger earning capacity into the future and ruled that “only enough money remained in the pot to meet the core housing and day-to-day needs of the wife and children.”  Thus awarded almost half a million pounds to Mrs Morris, whilst giving Mr Morris £66,000.

The full story can be read in the Telegraph here.

‘Titanic divorce battle’

In numbers…
1970 - The year the couple married
2013 - The year the couple separated
43 - years of marriage
£30 million - The cost of the mansion in Hertfordshire that the couple moved to before they separated
£6.1 million - The legal bill so far
£66 million - Dr Khoo’s claimed net worth
£440 million - His net worth according to Ms Chai, the ex-wife of Dr Khoo
21 - Days given to Khoo Kay Peng to make a settlement offer to his wife in this big money divorce
7 - Days given to Ms Chai to say what offer she is willing to accept
1st of its kind - The description of the order by Georgina Hamblin who is acting on behalf of Ms Chai

15 days - expected length of the full court hearing if the parties still cannot settle.….Let’s hope that it doesn’t get to that! It’s already one of the most expensive divorces to come before English courts.

Full story and stats from The Telegraph, to read more click here

The strange case of the ‘alleged’ Tipp-Ex doctored documents

Sally Nightingale is fighting to see her former husband jailed as she claimed she had been deliberately mislead, after accusing him of doctoring important documents with Tipp-Ex.

The details are being argued in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

Mr Nightingale had previously agreed to give his wife a quarter (worth approximately £1.5 million) of his holding in a Dublin computer systems firm.  The amount became significantly reduced - a meagre £75, as he claimed the sale had been ‘very hard work’ and he had only received £330.

Patric Chamberlain QC who is representing Mrs Nightingale, highlighted that despite being ordered to do so Mr Nightingale had not produced all of the relevant documents.  Adding that ‘it became clear that he had doctored documents with Tipp-Ex and covered up photocopying in order to conceal the truth’.

The case is set to return to the High Court at a later date and I will be interested to see the outcome to this.

I think we can all learn that creatively using Tipp-Ex on important documents is certainly not right nor a clever thing to to do!

Read more on this Telegraph story here.

Crowdfunding a divorce

Sara McNally from Liverpool has come up with a rather interesting way to try and raise funds for her and her husband Neil to move on with their lives....

Telling the Liverpool Echo that turning to the crowdfunding website GoFundMe was a last resort, Sara admitted that she “felt like such a failure, but would regret it if I did not look at every possible option.”

Her initial aim - to raise anything up to a £30,000 target, was in order that they could to pay back a £25,000 loan that Sara and her husband took out to help pay for their house. Ultimately looking to the paying public to donate as much money as possible, to help with their financial state throughout their divorce and beyond.

Now I certainly don’t want to knock an original idea, but I’m not sure that everyone will be rushing to help with the donations! And guess what, when I tired to click on the link the page could not be found.  So I’m guessing that is the message that Sara got too!

Cheating made easy app

Happy New Year one and all.

2016 seems to have started with some good news for those cheaters out there! Whilst this story made me laugh this week, I can't help but think that in many ways, technology is getting to the point where it is somewhat detrimental to long lasting relationships.

Swytch - a revolutionary app, allows users to have up to five additional mobile phone numbers on their existing smartphone. As The Mirror reported, Chris Michael, CEO and Co-Founder of the app said:

‘’while this [app] may assist people who have already decided to have affairs, I cannot believe that would be a factor in their decision to start one…Facebook made it easier to meet people and dating app Tinder literally made it easier to hook up with people.  There will always be innovative services bringing great value to the users they were built for, and they will always end up being hijacked by a marginal number of users with ulterior motives."

So agreed - Swytch is not going to give cause to cheat in the beginning, but is definitely going to help those who wish to hide something.  Let’s hope that many individuals see sense and instead choose to talk through relationship problems rather than living double lives.

Mediation is a process to help couples who are on the cusp or have decided to separate or divorce to talk things through.  As a trained mediator, I can help you reach agreement about how to make the best arrangements for the future.

January to see a 300% predicted rise for divorce inquiries

It is a tough time of year for many and according to new research the season of love and goodwill shall be over for some, all too quickly into the new year.

Co-operative legal services anticipate that a 332% rise in divorce inquiries will happen in January compared with enquiries over the last four months.

It was also thought that despite the timing, Christmas was not actually to blame for relationship breakdowns - more-so any split was already likely, but that couples would delay making any announcement until after the festive break.

As the Guardian reports, when asked why divorcees held off until after celebratory occasions, the research group gave these reasonings:

- Not wanting to spoil proceedings was the most common reason, with 43% saying this was the case
- A third wanted to have one last Christmas as a family
- A tenth of divorcees did not want to upset others
- Nearly a third (32%) had not yet confirmed they were going to get divorced

I hope that you all had a relaxing and harmonious Christmas.  If your thoughts are now moving towards divorce or you believe separation may be the right path come the new year, then please talk somebody - there are often resolutions to be found.