The High Court granted a decree of divorce to a couple who had been separated for more than two decades and ordered the husband to pay his wife a €4 million lump sum by 1 December 2008.
In a judgment delivered on 30 July 2007, Mr Justice Henry Abbott also ordered weekly maintenance of €1,500 gross of tax, beginning the following Wednesday and continuing until the lump sum was paid in full. The husband was ordered to pay the wife’s costs, including reserved costs. The court said counsel could make further submissions on finalising the order and modifying the proposed costs structure.
The wife brought the divorce proceedings in 2003 under the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996. The couple married in 1971, had five children who were no longer dependent, and separated in 1985. The wife sought a share of the family assets and maintenance. The husband argued that she was not entitled to maintenance while cohabiting with, or working for, a man identified in the judgment as J.W. He also said she had agreed to waive some payments.
The court found that the 1990 High Court maintenance order did not incorporate the separation agreement’s conditions that maintenance would cease if the wife worked, had income or cohabited. It nevertheless held that the wife’s response when the husband said he would stop paying while J.W. lived with her amounted to a waiver for that period. The judge also refused arrears for the period after J.W. left, citing the wife’s failure to disclose employment and directorship links with J.W. and his companies. The court said maintenance could be considered from the date those payments were disclosed during the hearing, pending capital provision.
The judge assessed the parties’ net property assets at about €21.27 million and considered a division of roughly 25 per cent for the wife appropriate. He cited the wife’s contribution to the family and the effect of childcare on her career, alongside the inherited origin of much of the husband’s assets and the long period after separation.
If the lump sum or interim maintenance was not paid by 1 September 2008, the court ordered the investment property on S. Street to be sold to secure payment. If its net sale price exceeded €12 million, the excess was to be shared in a way consistent with the overall division. The judgment did not declare the provision to be in full and final settlement: the judge said that could be added if both parties later agreed and applied to the court.