Over 20 Years Later – Ex-Wife Seeks Money

Banner headlines across today's media announced the Supreme Court’s decision to allow Kathleen Wyatt to seek money from her ex-husband – over 20 years after they separated.

The reason for the headlines? Dale Vince, her former husband, went on to found and run Ecotricity, the green energy company becoming a multi-millionaire in the process.

Tom Quail, WJM’s Family Law expert, looked behind the headlines.

“On the surface, it seems ludicrous that someone can come back over 20 years after a relationship has finished and claim money. Examine the judgement in more detail, it seems that Ms Wyatt and Mr Vince didn’t deal properly with the financial aspects of their separation when they divorced and that has allowed her to bring this action.”

The case highlights a very fundamental difference between English and Scottish law.

In Scotland, very sensibly, a couple can’t get divorced until they have sorted out their finances, including support for any children of the marriage.

In England, the reverse applies: a couple can get divorced without having dealt with their finances. As this case shows, it can leave the door open for financial claims long after the divorce was finalised, if the couple didn’t deal with their finances at the time of the divorce.

“You can understand Ms Wyatt’s point of view,” said Tom. “Mr Vince is now very wealthy and she isn’t. The Court isn’t saying that she is entitled to money: what they are saying is that they are not sure if the issues of financial support for the couple’s son and her in her role as the son’s carer, was ever dealt with properly. It is on those grounds the case is being brought.”

The moral of this story is to deal with all the financial and legal issues at the time of the divorce, remembering that, however much you don’t want to, your spouse has to be treated fairly. If you don’t make a fair agreement, the courts will make an agreement for you and you might end up far worse off than in a negotiated agreement.

Tom’s final comment on this case was “There’s nothing to stop you making an agreement at the time even, as was the case here, if you had next to no assets when you divorced. As this case shows, it’s not outside the bounds of possibility for one party to go on to become very successful – here, the lack of an agreement has left a door ajar which would have been tightly closed had an agreement been made.”

If you think you could be in a similar position, Tom can be contacted through tlq@wjm.co.uk