Last updated on August 18th, 2015 at 03:34 pm

Divorce is a serious business, and mustn’t be made light of, but in these cases, it is hard not to see the foolishness of the men whose actions could only really lead to them giving their wealth away.

In one case, a rich Arab, (a former government minister), signed an agreement to pay his estranged wife £60,000 a month, at a meeting with her in a Chinese restaurant.  When divorce proceedings commenced, the man disputed the agreement, saying that he had not understood what he was signing, as he wasn’t wearing his reading glasses at the time, and was under duress due to missing his children.  Needless to say, the judge found the explanation hard to accept from such an educated man, but didn’t award the woman the full amount, reducing it to around £33,000 a month for her and her children.  Still a fair amount out of any man’s coffers – especially one who had 4 wives, as this man already had!

In another case, a millionaire businessman, who carried on living in the same house as his  ex-wife after their divorce, met another woman and brought her to live in the same house with her child.  He then asked his ex-wife if she would stay on in the house as his housekeeper, and told a judge that he couldn’t understand why his wife became ‘so aggressive’ at his suggestion.  After having lived in the same house since the 1990s, when they divorced after a marriage of nearly 20 years, financial proceedings were settled in January this year.  The millionaire argued that they had originally agreed that she would get no more than £3.4 million, but the judge disagreed, saying they had lived in a way that treated the divorce as ‘just a piece of paper’, and he awarded the woman almost half of the man’s £13.6 million fortune.

And one to watch…
Nick Robertson, founder, and owner of 9.4%, of internet fashion site, ASOS – valued at £5.8 billion, has split up from his wife of 10 years – who he met on a blind date.  Mr Robertson’s share of ASOS is worth over £500 million, and if they divorce, his wife could end up winning half of it – which could cause some jitters amongst ASOS’ shareholders if they think he might have to sell shares to fund the divorce!  Perhaps a prenuptial agreement would have been a good idea here.

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