In this week’s NLJ, Harriet Errington, family partner at Boodle Hatfield, with the support of Annette Spycher at Kellerhals-Carrard, take a look at this fascinating case, which brings into focus ‘the wide-ranging powers of the English court to intervene following foreign divorce proceedings’.
In this divorce, both parties were Russian and had lived their married life in Russia. They were not wealthy when they married but during the marriage the husband amassed circa US$20bn. The husband paid the wife US$76.1m when they split in 2007. Litigation ensued. The wife moved to London in 2014 on an investor visa. The question before the Supreme Court is whether the wife can apply for financial relief in England following an overseas divorce?
Errington, supported by Spycher, look at the case, the legislation underpinning it, and how other jurisdictions tackle this issue. They write: ‘The law in England and Wales now encourages forum shopping and divorce tourism in big money cases such as this. Where parties have a very limited connection to England, as is arguable in the case in question, should the law really accommodate a second bite of the cherry following extensive litigation overseas?’
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