A Big Money case: Evans v Evans

Sarah Foreman, Solicitor, Vardags

The Family Division has recently considered a high net worth case, involving assets of approximately £40 million, which encapsulates numerous principles of family law and provides a useful reminder for family solicitors of the current status of the law in respect of the same. The parties fought desperately, together racking up costs of £2.7 million, and their counsel attempted to pull numerous tricks out of the bag, resulting in a truly fascinating case. Evans v. Evans considered the achievability of a clean break, the definition of non-marital property, the possibility of avoiding an equal division of assets due to one party's special contribution, the principle of sharing, the effect of post-separation endeavour and the possibility of notionally reattributing funds into the marital pot as a result of the wanton dissipation of assets.

The full version of this article appears in the July 2013 issue of Family Law.