SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE - High Net Worth Marriage
The High Court ruling means that Mrs McFarlane, 49, who separated from
her husband Kenneth in 2000, will share in her former husband's
increased income, which has risen from £750,000 at the time of the
divorce award to £1.1m after tax - her maintenance payments will now
total £350,000. The award will be reviewed when he plans to retire in
2015.
Mrs McFarlane, a solicitor who worked for City firm Freshfields when she gave up
her career to become a full-time mother, and who was also granted
capital award of about £3m for her contribution to her husband's career
as a wife and mother of their three children, had originally returned
to court earlier this year to seek increased maintenance for the
children, but then also to increase her own payments.
This case reverses the more recent 'credit-crunch' tendency in which
husbands apply to reduce their payments to ex-wives due to their income
having dropped.