Huddersfield Solicitors

Protections previously awarded to thousands of divorce proceedings across the country have been lifted following a landmark Court of Appeal ruling.

Under previous law, divorcing spouses who came across secret information which showed their partner was hiding money to avoid punitive court payouts were allowed to present the material to the courts for consideration in proceedings.

But the Court of Appeal has reversed the ruling in a major case involving the sister of two British property entrepreneurs and her multi-million pound divorce from businessman Vivian Imerman.

Property tycoons Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz apparently obtained information about the financial affairs of their sister’s husband in an effort to boost her divorce settlement. But the ruling has forced the brother’s to comply with a previous High Court order and give any financial information back to Mr Imerman.

Ms Tchenguiz’s solicitor said that this meant a decade of “protection previously given to thousands of wives” will go “into reverse thrust”.

Mr Imerman’s solicitor then claimed that the “ground-breaking” decision will eternally alter the disclosure of personal and financial documents in British family law cases.

“In future, self help will not be tolerated and those who purloin the documents of others (whether by force or not) will pay a heavy price either in damages, in costs or in criminal proceedings,” his solicitor added.

Fellow divorce lawyers also believe that in the future any attempt by one spouse to take confidential documents from their partner could result in heavy, court enforced costs or even criminal proceedings.

For further information or assistance with family law or divorce matters in Huddersfield, please contact Ramsdens Solicitors Family Law Department here , call 01484 821500 or visit www.ramsdens.co.uk