An uplifting piece by Frances Gibb, Legal Editor, in today’s Times. Emphases ours:
A wife handed £9.76 million when she split from her wealthy husband has had her maintenance stopped by senior judges in a blow to the principle that divorcees have a “meal ticket for life”.
Kim Waggott, 49, will not suffer “undue hardship” and can get a job if she needs more money, judges at the Court of Appeal ruled.
William Waggott, 54, an accountant, was ordered to give his ex-wife a £9.76 million settlement in cash and assets, allowing her to buy a £2 million home in Cheshire and a holiday home in Majorca after they split up in 2012. On top of that, Mr Waggott, the finance director of TUI travel, was told to pay her £175,000 a year in personal maintenance for the rest of their lives.
Mr Waggott protested that the order made by a divorce judge in 2014 was wrong and meant that his wife — the former finance controller of UCI cinemas — had “no financial incentive” to get back to work.
Lord Justice Moylan, sitting with Sir James Munby and Mr Justice MacDonald, heard that the couple were married for 21 years and had one daughter. He ordered that the maintenance payments should stop in March 2021.
Mrs Waggott will now face a massive legal costs bill, which is bound to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds. [J4MB: Excellent. Will hopefully dissuade other shameless golddiggers.]
A review of the current system of maintenance is being urged by The Times as part of its campaign to reform the divorce laws.
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