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A landmark decision made in UK on what is considered to be one of the most contentious divorce battles in Britain may end up permitting spouses to hide wealth during divorce. The decision has earned the name "cheater's charter".
The case involves the divorce of Lisa Imerman and husband Vivian, also known as "The Man from Del Monte" because of the £380 million fortune he earned after selling his stake in the Del Monte company.
Mrs. Imerman signed a prenuptial agreement but is insisting that she is entitled to more because Mr. Imerman's fortune has increased. To prove this, Mrs. Imerman's brothers (who shared an office with Mr. Imerman) locked him out of his office and downloaded documents off his computer. The brothers downloaded thousands of financial documents from the computer, saying that they were only protecting their sister from the possibility that Mr. Imerman was hiding assets from her.
The court ruled that how the materials were obtained was considered unlawful, and in effect argued that past rules that allowed spouses to secretly obtain financial papers and evidence were unlawful.
Mrs. Imerman said after the judgment that: ‘Wives are so disadvantaged by what the judges have decreed because husbands can hide all their assets now and even if wives know about it they can do nothing. They can’t show a document, not even to their lawyers any more.’
Sandra Davis, the head of family law at Mishcon de Reya, maintained that the only lawful way to get financial information pertinent to the case would be to get a warrant. A forensic accountant should be able to trace money squirreled away illegally. |
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