A wife has successfully appealed against her divorce settlement after it was revealed that her husband had withheld information about a £4.2 million inheritance. 

Case Background 

During their divorce proceedings, the couple had reached an agreement, recorded in a signed draft consent order, compromising the wife’s financial remedy claims against the husband. The wife later repudiated that agreement, alleging that the husband had failed to disclose a £4.2 million inheritance from his parents, and that this non-disclosure should negate the agreement. 

Initial Court Decision 

The judge initially approved the agreement, holding that it was fair and that the husband’s non-disclosure was not operative because the wife knew the size of the estate and could have required him to provide the information through a questionnaire. 

High Court Decision 

The High Court overturned that decision, holding that the husband’s non-disclosure of the inheritance was fraudulent. The forms he filled out during the divorce proceedings were not just misleading; they were untrue. The wife’s vague belief in the inheritance size could not justify the agreement in the absence of proper disclosure. Her claims for financial remedies were remitted to be retried.