Nigel celebrated the win by marrying his longtime partner, giving his old house to his cleaning lady, gifts to friends, and making charitable donations. He was reportedly planning to make a generous gift to his former wife when he was contacted by her lawyer. Yes, I like Nigel a lot more than Wendy.
Nigel himself is a former property maintenance worker, and has now moved into a £4million six-bedroom eco-home with 25-seat cinema and an indoor swimming pool.
Wendy Page is a human resources director at an investment firm and lives in a waterside home in the Cotswolds. She was seen celebrating with another man and a bottle of champagne after the lottery win.
I remain confused by the legal threat. The reason appears to be absence of a “legally-binding ‘clean break’ clause” in their divorce — a curious requirement since in the United States (once a divorce becomes final) it generally ends any demands for post-divorce asset acquisitions. When you divorce, your right to make a claim against your husband/wife for money or property will still exist. The English courts only view a divorce as ending the contract of marriage and not necessarily demands on financial assets. Thus, you have to ask a court for a formal release from such future demands in a Clean Break Order or Clean Break Agreement. This case shows, in my view, the flaws in such a system. The presumption should be the inverse. Absent a court order, demands on post-divorce assets should be presumptively barred with the cessation of the marriage.
Source: Daily Mail
Jonathan Turley