PAY NOW OR PAY FOREVER!

There was a great deal of fuss last week when an English Court refused a wife a share of her ex-husband’s future earnings on the basis that the couple had built up enough assets during the marriage to meet the wife’s future needs.

It was suggested that this meant that wives were going to receive less in future.
Frankly this is nonsense.

In the case of McFarlane v McFarlane the couple had a relatively small pot of £3 million, and it was agreed that there was insufficient capital to either compensate or provide for needs for the wife. It was on that basis that she received a share of future earnings, particularly as they were disproportionate to the previous earnings during the period in which both husband and wife had invested their time to building the husband’s career.

However in the recent case there was a much larger financial pot and the wife was able to receive a sum of £13 million in cash and assets. It was felt that this would definitely provide for her needs.

This is hardly surprising, and I suggest that it does no more than confirm that in big money cases, as in life, if you have got enough cash to pay up front you can do so, otherwise you will have to pay on the instalment method!