The ultra-rich are flocking to the capital’s courts, where £100m-plus settlements are common and judges love rumbling spouses who try to hide their wealth
How does it feel to get a £15 million divorce settlement?
asserted
it → flock → settlement
I ask a rich divorcee like I’m interviewing a lottery winner.
asserted
I → ask → winner
“It’s terrible!” she says, “it’s really not what you think.”
asserted
you → ’ → what
A week later I watch Dominic West sitting beside a red-lipped Sienna Miller at the Leicester Square premiere of their new divorce drama, War.
asserted
West → watch → drama
“The difference between love and war is a knife-edge,” West grins.
asserted
West → grin → love
Bloody, passionate, sexy, manipulative, who doesn’t love a good divorce!
asserted
who → love → divorce
After all, nearly half of everyone married does it.
asserted
half → marry → it
And the details are especially fascinating — and lurid — when the warring parties are mega rich.
asserted
parties → war → ?
No wonder Sky’s new courtroom drama takes as its subject the messy separation of a glamorous couple — a film star (Miller) and tech entrepreneur (West) — engaged in a bitter divorce: One minute, holding hands in limos and kissing on the red carpet; then next setting honey traps and ripping-up pre-nups, as Miller declares: “Take him for every penny he’s got!”
asserted
he → take → penny
A central character in this filthy, sexy money-fuelled drama is London itself — which has a reputation as the magnet for ultra high net- worth (UHNW) divorce.
asserted
which → fuel → divorce
A status cemented by big money cases — this year saw Russian businessman Mikhail Kroupeev’s £100m divorce, last year US billionaire Michael Fuch made a £36m settlement.
asserted
Fuch → cement → settlement
Both dwarfed by the record-breaking £554m settlement Fiona Shackleton — King Charles’s lawyer in his divorce from Diana — secured Princess Haya bint Hussein in her divorce from Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum in 2021.
asserted
Both → break → 2021
“London is still the divorce capital of the world”, says Emily Kapoor from Katz Partners, whose partner Davina Katz represented Ecotricity tycoon Dale Vince in his £43m divorce.
asserted
partner → say → divorce
War shows London’s law firms with floor-to-ceiling windows, Picassos on walls and “War Rooms” with legions of staff.
asserted
War → show → staff
Legal costs alone in such cases can easily exceed £5m.
“Who gets in first, in which country, can be important”, says Claire Gordon, partner at Farrer &Co who represented a tech billionaire’s wife awarded £230m last year — Britain’s third largest ever divorce payout.
asserted
who → exceed → payout
“If you have an internationally mobile UHNW family, who spend 100 days in the UK, 50 days Gstaad and 100 days in California, there is a potential debate as to where they reside and the jurisdiction that should hear their divorce.”
asserted
that → have → divorce
London’s lure of the equal split
If you’re the home-maker, you usually want your case heard in London because “England sees marriage as an equal partnership whatever the couple’s respective roles”, Gordon explains, which means assets are equally split.
asserted
assets → ’re → partnership
“There have always been big-money cases in London but in the nearly 30 years I’ve been doing this there’s been an exponential rise in the amounts being awarded,” says Gordon.
asserted
Gordon → do → amounts
“When I was junior family lawyer if we had a £30m divorce case that was notable, whereas now it’s not unusual to have clients with a £100m settlement
asserted
it → have → settlement
Gordon frequently oversees UHNW divorces where clients are splitting international homes — “you get Maine, I’ll have New York.
asserted
I → oversee → York
Whoever gets the house may get the contents.
uncertain
gets → get → contents
Emotions can flare if one partner has managed a major refurb.
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partner → flare → refurb
Or if she’s giving up the ski chalet, she might argue she should be bought a replacement in the settlement.”
She’s helped couples divide yachts, cars, horses, designer clothes and Birkin bag collections
She’s split art collections: Old Masters, or more recently Hockneys and Jeff Koons.
uncertain
She → give → collections
And helped couples divide yachts, cars, horses, designer clothes and Birkin bag collections.
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couples → help → yachts
Rows erupt over exclusive personalised licence plates and wine collections — that vanish when one side drinks them during proceedings.
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side → erupt → proceedings
But “it’s not always the Picassos that are the sticking points but the portrait of one of the children by a famous painter friend of the family”.
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that → ’ → family
London affords particularly generous maintenance payments.
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London → afford → payments
If the asset split isn’t enough to meet the income needs of one party, ongoing maintenance can be awarded on the basis of the couple’s married lifestyle.
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maintenance → meet → lifestyle
“Horses and art can be expensive hobbies, or the cost of flying pets around the world in private jets,” Gordon notes.
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Gordon → fly → jets
The wealthy divorcee I speak to reveals her lawyer advised her to spend, spend, spend!
asserted
lawyer → speak → her
“She said your bill for cosmetics is very low — you need to spend more!
asserted
you → say → more
We’d always used private jets, so I had to start buying airline tickets to show how much I travelled.
asserted
I → use → much
I went and spent thousands on a bracelet that I hate just to show I could spend £7,000 a day.”
uncertain
I → go → 7,000
But Gordon warns divorcing women against over-inflating expenses.
asserted
Gordon → warn → expenses
“If it looks like suddenly Gucci and Prada where before it was Longchamp, it’s very noticeable and judges aren’t impressed.”
asserted
judges → look → Gucci
But Kapoor often sees it.
asserted
Kapoor → see → it
“Our old office used to be around the corner from Selfridges and they’d disappear and sink £75,000.”
asserted
they → use → 75,000
“There’s arguments about the loyalty of staff — who goes with who.
asserted
who → ’ → who
They’ve all got estates in the country so they all ride.
asserted
they → get → country
If they ski, they still want to have private skiing lessons and ski out of helicopters.”
asserted
they → ski → helicopters
…and 23 more, not listed.
The Aporia
