A wealthy US-born expat has been granted permission to challenge a court-ordered financial settlement.
Randy Work and estranged wife Mandy Gray married in the 1990s and went on to have two children. She became a stay-at-home mother whilst her husband went on to forge a very successful career in private equity investment, in the process accumulating a fortune in excess of £150 million, all subsequent to the marriage. In 2007 the couple moved to London.
Since their separation they have been unable to agree on the specifics of a financial settlement. He argued that she had not abided by the terms of a postnuptial agreement signed in 2000 and that he had made an “exceptional contribution” to the marital wealth.
But the courts were unpersuaded, ruling that his wife’s contribution to the marriage as mother and homemaker entitled her to an equal share.
Mr Work appealed, the Daily Mail reports, insisting that Mr Justice Holman had been wrong and that the scale of the husband’s financial success should be acknowledged in the division of assets.
Lady Justice King concluded that his case was “arguable” and allowed Mr Work to proceed to the Court of Appeal. But she also urged the couple to reach a voluntary agreement between themselves, noting that they have already run up multimillion pound legal bills.
She declared:
“’Really it should not be beyond the wit of man with $300million to settle”.
The wit of WHAT, My Lady?
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It’s like that case you reported last year of the ex-wife who got $575m and appealed saying it should be $625m.
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I wonder what effect a Caldebank regime would have on these two!