London was once considered by the media as “the divorce capital of the world” as it was felt that English law enabled wives with wealthy husbands to achieve a bigger financial settlement on divorce than in other jurisdictions. However, Alyce Faye Eichelberger has reportedly achieved a financial settlement of nearly £12.5 million after her divorce from John Cleese. So should California be the divorce capital of the world?
Californian law differs from English law. Under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, English courts have to take into account the spouses’ relationship-generated needs, compensation for a relationship generated disadvantage and the sharing of the financial assets of the marriage. So elements such as a residential parent needing more income because of childcare costs, a spouse giving up a career to look after children particularly in a long marriage, and a spouse working part-time in the expectation that the pension achieved by the spouse working full-time would be equally shared would be considered under English law and the division of marital assets would not necessarily be equal.
Under Californian law, however, marital assets are generally equally split. This does not take into account unequal contribution to marital assets, particularly in this case when Mr Cleese was already wealthy and Ms Eichelberger was significantly less well off even though she built a high earning career after their marriage. English judicial discretion may have taken that into account and the flexibility available may have resulted in a fairer settlement.
Perhaps if either seek to re-marry, both will consider a Pre-Nuptial Agreement next time. If there had been a Pre-Nuptial Agreement, Mr Cleese could have protected his pre-marital assets as California does recognise valid Pre-Nuptial Agreements. English courts are beginning to give more weight to Pre-Nuptial Agreements and they are a useful way of protecting assets on a second or subsequent marriage, particularly if one or both spouses have children from a previous relationship.
If you have any queries on financial settlements after divorce or are interested in drawing up a Pre-Nuptial Agreement, please phone James Haworth on 0116 212 1080 now or complete one of the on-line forms.
