Husband Refused to Disclose Financial Assets in Divorce

A Divorce Case Study – Client Situation

Our client Mrs E had been married for 25 years. She had two children aged 19 and 22 and her youngest child was still in full-time education.

Mrs E’s husband issued divorce proceedings without following any protocols. He then applied for Financial Relief Proceedings, without attempting to negotiate a settlement and would not agree to mediation. The husband adopted an aggressive, litigious stance and refused to have any constructive dialogue.

How We Helped

Mrs E contacted our Divorce Solicitors and spoke with Partner and Divorce Solicitor Jane Auty. When we took Mrs E’s instructions, there were substantial marital assets. Mrs E’s husband did not want to make full disclosure of some of them. There was a family home worth more than £1.3million, a portfolio of investments along with pensions of around £600,000.

Through the Court procedure, our Divorce Solicitor obtained Orders from the Court for valuation evidence of the family home, evidence about the value of the pensions and a valuation of the husband’s business interests. The case was listed for a Financial Dispute Resolution hearing, also known as an FDR hearing. A Financial Dispute Resolution is a hearing where Mrs E and her husband could put their case forward to the Judge so the Court could make a ruling about their finances once they were divorced.

The Outcome

We reached a financial settlement for Mrs E after a day of negotiation. The Divorce Financial Order made provision for the sale of the family home and division of the other assets. Mrs E received a higher percentage of the family home. This was to compensate her for not making a claim against her husband’s business.

After the Divorce Financial Order had been made, Mr E refused to allow the sale of the family home to go through. Enforcement proceedings had to be issued by Mrs E to make her former husband abide by the terms of the Court Order.

Mrs E’s final settlement was around £2million.

For more information see Divorce Financial Orders and Financial Settlements.