What’s true here in Fort Myers is apparently true all over the globe: high asset divorce is never easy, especially not when there’s a dispute about exactly how many assets the divorcing parties actually have.
This truth has been demonstrated by the divorce of a once-succesful British property developer from his wife of 18 years. The couple’s divorce battle has been going on in court for seven years now, and appears to be headed into the final stretch, with the couple attempting to settle the dispute about how much assets the husband still controls.
sThe husband, who declared bankruptcy in 2010, insists that he is living off the charity of friends, and no longer has the cash or assets needed to pay the large divorce settlement his wife requests. The wife asserts that her estranged husband is still worth billions of pounds, and is hiding large in his various offshore accounts. Earlier this year, the husband served time in prison after he was found in contempt of court for not producing requested information about his finances.
The case of the property development tycoon is just one high-profile example of what can happen in cases of asset valuation dispute, but the principles behind this case can be applied to many high asset divorce cases. If you are involved in a divorce case with a spouse who refuses to be forthcoming about the true state of his or her finances, it can dramatically complicate the legal proceedings for you. An experienced divorce attorney may be able to streamline some of the process for people in cases such as this one.
Source: Daily Mail, “I’ll settle for £300m: Wife of ‘bankrupt’ tycoon insists he’s still worth billions in divorce battle,” Ben Spencer, Oct. 31, 2013
