Joanna Miles provided advice as an academic consultant to the legal team representing the wife in the recent high-profile Supreme Court case Vince v Wyatt, which concerned the question whether the wife's claim for a financial remedy following divorce could properly be struck out where it was brought decades after the parties' separation and subsequent divorce.
The Supreme Court upheld the wife's case that the relevant procedural rules afford no scope for striking out a claim on the basis that it has no real prospects of success, bearing in mind the duty of the matrimonial court under s25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 to have regard to all the circumstances of the case, a duty which is inconsistent with the summary disposal of such cases. The decision highlights the peculiar nature of the financial obligations that arise on divorce, and the importance in practice of parties dealing with the financial issues at that point, if appropriate through an order dismissing all claims. The lack of any such order in this case left the door open to claims being brought in future provided the applicant did not remarry in the intervening period.
This case has received significant coverage in the media:
- The Guardian: Woman wins right to seek money from ex-husband 30 years after breakup;
- The Telegraph: Delayed divorce battle: Ecotricity founder Dale Vince's New Age traveller ex-wife wins cash fight;
- The BBC: Ex-wife wins landmark claim 20 years after divorce;
- Reuters: Decades after divorce, UK millionaire faces claim from ex-wife.