Law Articles

Sharland v Sharland and Gohil v Gohil 08/01/2016

On 14 October 2015, seven Supreme Court justices unanimously ruled that Mrs Alison Sharland (aged 48) and Mrs Varsha Gohil (aged 50) could seek larger payouts from their former husbands because their husbands failed to provide full financial disclose of their assets at the time of divorce. This is a landmark decision and one that may well stop spouses from trying to hide assets on divorce and cheating their spouse out of a fair divorce settlement. The facts of each case are as follows.

Sharland v Sharland

The parties were married in 1993, separated in 2010 and had three children together. In financial relief proceeding, the husband and wife were in dispute about the husband's shareholding in a company. The experts did not agree as to its value, but they proceeded upon the assumption that no initial public offering (IPO) was imminent or under consideration. The husband maintained both before, and in evidence during, the final hearing that no IPO was imminent or likely in the near future.

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