Women Win Right to Revisit Divorce Settlements

The UK Supreme Court has found in favour of two women who were seeking the right to have their divorce settlements reopened, reports the Guardian.

Alison Sharland and Varsha Gohil had both claimed that their ex-husbands had deliberately misled the courts about the true extent of their wealth when their divorce disputes were being heard.

Mrs Sharland received a settlement worth around £10.35 million, however it was subsequently revealed that her ex-husband’s company was worth a great deal more than he had led the court to believe.

Mrs Gohil had accepted a settlement of £270,000 plus a car, but when her ex-husband was convicted of money laundering after the divorce it became apparent that he had lied about the extent of his assets.

Both the women’s claims will now go back to the High Court to be reassessed.

Commenting on the Supreme Court's judgments, Jo Edwards, chair of family law organisation Resolution, said:

"The success of Mrs Sharland and Mrs Gohil today is a clear indicator that anything less than full and frank disclosure of assets in divorce cases will not be tolerated by the courts, where this has an outcome on the order that the court would otherwise have made. This has significant implications for other cases where assets are suspected of having been concealed, and could see many other recently finalised cases being reopened."

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