K v L [2011] EWCA Civ 550, [2011] All ER (D) 124 (May)
Court of Appeal, Civil Division Laws, Jacob and Wilson LJJ, 13 May 2011
The Court of Appeal has reviewed the circumstances in which it would be appropriate to limit a husband’s award to a “generous assessment of his needs”.
Martin Pointer QC and Geoffrey Kingscote for the husband. Lucy Stone QC and Duncan Brooks for the wife.
The husband and wife were in a relationship for 21 years and had three children. When the wife was aged 15 she inherited shares. When the parties separated in 2007, the shares were worth £28m. Throughout the marriage neither party generated any earned income. The parties lived modestly—the family’s average net average expenditure during the later years of the marriage was £79,000 and the former matrimonial property was worth £225,000.
Following separation, the husband’s claims against the wife for interim support reflected the modesty of the previous family expenditure. He sought £30,000 for himself in 2007 and £48,000 for himself in 2008. However, for the
