In this week's issue, Ellie Hampson-Jones of Stewarts analyses the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Standish v Standish [2025] UKSC 26. The court clarified that non-matrimonial property—such as assets acquired before marriage—should generally be excluded from the sharing principle in divorce
The judgment rejected the idea that transferring assets into a spouse’s name automatically makes them matrimonial. Instead, the source of the wealth is key.
The court also outlined how non-matrimonial assets might become matrimonial over time if treated as shared. In this case, the £80m transferred by Mr Standish to his wife for tax planning was not deemed shared, as there was no evidence of joint treatment.
The ruling reduces Mrs Standish’s award from £45m to £25m and sets a precedent with wide implications for family law and wealth planning. The case now returns to the High Court to assess whether £25m meets Mrs Standish’s needs.
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