Judge Awards Divorce Settlement of £453 Million

A woman has been granted what is thought to be one of the highest divorce settlements awarded by the British courts, the BBC reports.

The names of the couple involved in the case have been withheld, but the husband is known to be a Russian who made his fortune in the oil and gas industry and his ex-wife was apparently born in Eastern Europe. The couple got married in Russia but then moved to England where they lived for many years.

According to the ex-wife, the couple had marital assets worth around £1 billion, which had accrued during the course of the marriage.

She had stayed at home to look after the couple’s children while her husband worked. He initially tried to claim that he had made a ‘special contribution’  to the accumulation of the family’s wealth, but the judge hearing the case disagreed and said that both parties had made equal contributions to the overall welfare of the family.

For reasons that have not been made clear, the ex-husband apparently withdrew from the proceedings shortly before the final ruling.

In this ruling, the High Court judge awarded the ex-wife 41.5% of the assets, which amounts to around £453 million.

Commentators have stated that this is one of the biggest awards made by a British court, although it is impossible to be sure if it is the biggest as divorce cases are often heard in private with financial details kept confidential.

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