Williams v Williams

We acted for the wife, Abigail Williams, in Williams v Williams. The judge, Mr Justice Moor described this case as “bad a case of non-compliance with court orders as this court has ever seen”.

The parties were married for almost 30 years and their marriage was described as a traditional one, with the husband as the breadwinner and the wife as the home-maker and former child-carer. The husband had a successful business career, which enabled the parties to enjoy an excellent standard of living. Virtually none of the assets were held in the sole name of the wife, or even jointly with her husband, including the matrimonial home, a large family home on a substantial plot of land in rural Wales.

Upon separation, the husband attempted to evade the provision of disclosure of his assets. He first stated that he was receiving medical assistance and that he had been admitted to a 12-week rehab programme. This allowed the husband to delay his financial disclosure until the courts directed a capacity assessment, which he did not complete. The husband then failed to engage properly with the court proceedings, which included his absence at six court hearings.

Early on in the case, we successfully secured a declaration for the wife that she was entitled to occupy the matrimonial home pursuant to Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996. We then obtained a Maintenance Pending Suit order for the sum of £10,500 per month, and an order for costs, which was backdated. When the husband further failed to engage in the proceedings and failed to comply with the Maintenance Pending Suit order, we obtained a third party debt order to have the wife’s maintenance taken from one of the husbands banks, a worldwide freezing injunction against the husband’s assets, and finally a bench warrant to have the husband arrested and brought before the court when he entered the jurisdiction.

The husband was arrested in October 2023 and Mr Justice Moor made a finding to the criminal standard of proof that the husband was in contempt. It was decided that the husband’s conduct was so serious that only a prison sentence would do, and he was sentenced to 56 days in custody suspended on terms that he file a fully complete financial statement (Form E) by November 2023 with all required documentation.

The husband’s financial statement declared his net wealth at just under £10 million. However, we asked the court to infer that the husband had further properties and considerable assets that remained hidden. Mr Justice Moor agreed, stating that “it is almost impossible to quantify the size of the non-disclosed assets” and that he has found the husband to be “entirely dishonest”.

Overall, the husband’s assets were assessed to stand at around £50 million, £25 million of which was deemed matrimonial. Mr Justice Moor awarded the wife £12.5 million, 50% of the matrimonial assets. This was a far cry from the result envisioned by the husband, who threatened that the wife “would end up stacking shelves in The Range”.

Senior Partner, David Lister, who represented the wife said that this case was “a cat and mouse chase after the money”, stating that in his 37 years of experience, he has only twice had one other case as bad as this: “this is gloves off litigation”.

Jemima Kearney, who supported David Lister on the case, has written a case summary for the Financial Remedies Journal which can be accessed here.

Reported Judgments

Williams v Williams [2024] EWFC 275 (06 August 2024)

Williams v Williams [2023] EWHC 3479 (Fam) (25 October 2023)

Williams v Williams [2023] EWHC 3098 (Fam) (13 October 2023)

Press Coverage

David Lister on the divorce case in which a pretend knight tried to hide his assets

Self-styled ‘Sir’ ordered to pay ex-wife £12.5m

Fake knight who told wife she would end up as a shelf stacker after divorce must pay her £12.5m

Multi-millionaire who styled himself ’Sir’ despite not having a knighthood and lied about his vast wealth during his divorce from his wife is ordered to pay her more than £12million | Daily Mail Online

Port Executive Ordered to Pay £12.5M After Hiding Wealth

Tracking the assets - by Joshua Rozenberg - A Lawyer Writes