The UK Supreme Court has ruled that Maria Mills is not entitled to higher maintenance payments from her husband to make up for the fact she has lost most of the capital sum she was granted on their divorce 16 years ago.
The Couple divorced in 2002, after a long marriage. Maria Mills was granted a GBP230,000 cash settlement – most of the couple’s liquid assets – plus a lifetime maintenance order of GBP13,200 per annum.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling today endorses the equitable principle that you cannot have two bites of the cherry in respect of a capital claim, despite having a maintenance claim still open”, ‘commented Charmaine Hast, of law firm Wedlake Bell’. “The effect of this judgement will be to send a message to those who have already received a divorce settlement that there will be no more capital after this even under the guise of the word maintenance. Perhaps the English courts will now no longer pander to those who make risky financial decisions post-divorce, believing that they can always go back for more capital”
Click here to read more about the STEP article, that Charmaine Hast commented on.