Divorcee loses £2.3 million divorce appeal discusses Dickon Ceadel in eprivateclient

Dickon was quoted in relation to the case of Mrs and Dr McFarlane in which the divorcee lost her appeal in a £2.3 million divorce battle.

The wife ran two main arguments, both of which were rejected by the Court of Appeal: first, that her needs post-separation should be calculated so as to allow her to enjoy a comparable lifestyle to that which the parties enjoyed during their marriage; and second, that she should be compensated for abandoning her career as a head teacher to be ‘looked after’ by her millionaire doctor husband. Dickon commented that while the courts will take into account the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage, it will only take this as a guide. He also explained that it was unsurprising that Mrs McFarlane's 'compensation' argument was rejected, given that there was a lack of clear evidence about what Mrs McFarlane would have otherwise earned. and stated that it reflects the general judicial trend of favouring a needs based approach to a party’s claims on divorce, over a compensation based approach.

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