Divorce Tourism

The Divorce Capital of the World

To most girls, the word “wedding” will have a nice ring to it. 😀 But marriage can be difficult and it doesn’t always last a lifetime. Divorce can often go off without a hitch for some. But for others, it can get quite messy, especially if there’s a lot of money involved. London, England appears to be the top destination for married couples looking to go their separate ways. It is known as the “divorce capital” of the world due to its court system’s “generosity to estranged wives.”

Sir Chris Hohn is a hedge fund manager in London. Recently his wife, Jamie, decided to leave him and she wanted to take half of their household assets with her because she believed their wealth was created due to their “partnership.” It was a bitter dispute, but in the end she was awarded £337 million ($525,000,000 USD). This enormous amount, granted by High Court judge Jennifer Roberts, was the largest ever seen in London’s courts. This settlement dwarfs the previous £220 million record, paid in 2011 by a rich Russian oligarch to his ex-wife, and further cements London’s reputation as the best place to get a divorce for non-working spouses. 🙂

There has been a string of well-publicized divorces in which women left their ultra rich husbands and received better deals than they would have gotten in other countries. Britain’s highest court has ruled that wealthy men cannot use their businesses to shield their wealth from their spouses in divorce cases. This has undoubtedly caught the attention of many who might also want to cash in on London, the divorce-jackpot destination.

Miss Malaysia and her 74 year-old estranged husband, who is the chairman of Malaysia United Industries, are currently involved in a London high court battle over their divorce case. Even Arab princess Meshkah Tawfik, who resides in London, is demanding £1 billion ($1,558,000,000 USD) from her husband, Sheikh Hamad Ben Jasim al-Thami, a member of Qatar’s royal family. Can you imagine what $1.5 billion can buy? 😯 I bet she’s an excellent housekeeper though. Like every time she gets a divorce, she keeps the house. 😆

“That’s why so many separations of large Russian, American and Middle East’s fortunes come to be settled in the U.K.” reports the French daily Figaro. These stories seem to suggest that if we marry someone rich then we should move to England. That way if the marriage doesn’t work out we can simply rely on the court system to give us the best compensation package in the world. 🙂

   ————————————————————————
Random Useless Fact:
This is pretty much how I see the typical girl around town this time of the year