In the case of Aburn v. Aburn 2016, the parties were married for 20 years.
There were two children of the marriage aged 14 and 19 years.
The Husband was employed as a GP and earnt £83,000.00 per annum.
The Wife was qualified as a nurse and a midwife, but had not worked since the first child was born.
The marital home had equity of £500,000.00.
The parties had savings of £80,000.00.
On retirement the Husband was due to receive £235,000.00 from his share in the GP practice.
The Husband also had a substantial pension. The Wife did not.
The parties were unable to reach an agreement in respect of the finances and therefore the matter was dealt with in Court.
The Wife was awarded 70% of the sale proceeds of the marital home.
The Husband was ordered to pay the Wife, one half of the amount he received from the GP surgery on retirement.
There was a pension sharing order in the Wife’s favour.
The Husband was ordered to pay the Wife £1,000.00 per month (indexed linked). This was calculated on the basis of the Wife’s need. However, the Order provided that when the younger child’s school fees were no longer payable, the Wife’s maintenance would increase to £2,000.00 per month until the Husband retired.
The Husband appealed the Judge’s decision in respect of the variation of maintenance.
The Judge stated that this was a needs case and not one of compensation and sharing.
The Court of Appeal confirmed that there should not be a variation.
Therefore, the Order was amended to remove the reference to the increase and provide for the Husband to pay the Wife £1,000.00 per month until his retirement.
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Please note the above is for information purposes only and is intended to be a short summary. It should not be treated as a comprehensive guide and should not be acted on without qualified legal advice.
