Wife granted permission to appeal divorce agreement to Supreme Court
An ex-wife has been granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court in relation to a divorce agreement in which her husband substantially undervalued the value of his company.
Alison Sharland will take her divorce case to the Supreme Court next June, as a result of her husband misleading both herself and the High Court.
The Supreme Court has stated that the case raises a point of law of general public importance. The Supreme court will will hear theappeal against the decision of Court of Appeal, where the court refused to set aside the a divorce agreement with her former partner where he had misrepresented the value of his assets.
During the proceedings at the High Court, Mr and Mrs Sharland had agreed that mrs Sharland would receive £10.355 million in cash and properties, and Mr Sharland would receive £5.64 in cash and properties plus a significantly larger proportion received on the sale of the shares in Mr Sharland’s company, valued in the proceedings to be between £31.5 and £47.25 million.
This agreement was approved however the company it was later revealed might have been worth up to £1 billion (suggested by financial press reports). Also, contrary to evidence given by Mr Sharland in the proceedings, it was discovered that an Initial Public Offering was being prepared.
Mrs Sharland sought to have the agreement set aside on the basis of the misrepresentation, however the appeal courts determined that the valuation of the company would not have made any material difference to the outcome and refused to set aside the agreement.
The case will be heard in June 2015, and the Supreme Court will need to consider whether the original decision was unjust due to the dishonesty and misrepresentation on the part of Mr Sharland.
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