How The Courts Divide A Couple’s Assets

A recent high profile case has examined the value of respective contributions during a relationship.

Jamie Cooper-Hohn and Sir Chris Hohn

The case of Jamie Cooper-Hohn, wife of Sir Chris Hohn, involved assets of £700 million which were in dispute. The dispute relates to the true value of their personal wealth, with Jamie Cooper-Hohn’s legal representatives arguing that she was entitled to a 50/50 split of the wealth, whilst Chris Hohn’s lawyers offering her 25%. However, last week Jamie Cooper-Hohn was awarded £337 million in financial remedy proceedings.

Much of this significant case related to the issue of how the Courts determine the division of a couple’s assets, particularly where there is a dispute over the value of their respective contributions to the relationship.

The role of the Court is not to discriminate between the roles that the respective spouses have fulfilled. It has always been clear practice that the breadwinner should not receive a higher proportion of the wealth than the homemaker purely because they have been the higher earner during the marriage. The contributions of the party who has taken a parenting or supportive role are equally valued.

However, this is a case which is unusual in terms of the wealth that was amassed during the marriage. The party who has directly generated the majority of the fortune often argues that he or she has made a “special contribution”. This is a concept that the Courts have considered in a number of cases and its application has caused some difficulty. Cases need to be exceptional and show extreme talent and the argument will not usually come into play unless there are many millions of pounds.

This high profile case highlights the Family Court’s broad discretion to reach a fair result having considered all the circumstances of the individual case. Consequently many people feel that this means that there is a lack of clarity as to the likely outcome of their case, especially if a party does not have the benefit of legal advice and representation.