They think it’s all over…

The wife of a French Premier League footballer earning around £1 million a year blew the whistle on their marriage after only 19 months.

With their young child and an eye watering income, the family lived a lavish lifestyle, along with the stereotypical Miami Beach hut. Unfortunately with little other investments and an outrageous amount of money spent on rental properties, this couple found themselves on more of a champagne lifestyle with a lemonade budget.

Having given up work as a beautician, the wife continued to spend excessively following the separation, in line with the cliché footballer’s wife lifestyle that she had become accustomed to. Following a lengthy and costly court battle, the wife was eventually awarded a global annual maintenance payment of £200,000 which was ordered to remain in force for the next seven years.

The reason why this case has caused so much of a stir and attracted so much attention is not only down to the fact that it involves a super-rich Premier League football player, (believe it or not) but because of the way in which the courts are considering how spousal maintenance can be spent. In cases where a mother (or father, as it happens) looks after young children, the courts are considering it reasonable for the recipient of spousal maintenance to ‘stockpile’ their money for other uses. In addition, the courts are leaning in favour of recipients of spousal maintenance by commenting that if the recipient, who is the sole carer of the parties’ children, subsequently resumes a role in the workplace he or she should not necessarily be subjected to an application by an ex-spouse to reduce spousal maintenance.

Footballer or not, ensure that you get a fair and reasonable financial settlement and call us now for specific legal advice tailored to your financial needs.

If you or anyone you know is about to get divorced and wants advice on their options then contact me at Simone@kleymansolicitors.com.  I may not understand the offside rule, but I do know about the financial rules.