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4play See other 4play Articles Title: Judges attack millionaire's divorce battle as 'grotesque' Judges attack millionaire's divorce battle as 'grotesque' By Stephen Howard Published: 21 April 2007 Three judges have described a couple's divorce battle battle over a £135m fortune as "grotesque" after they spent £1.5m on lawyers - and all that has been decided so far is where the case should be heard. Three judges dismissed a bid by the property tycoon Jim Moore to stop his former wife, Kim, bringing the case from Spain to London. In written reasons for their decision the judges said yesterday that the proceedings were a "lamentable and grotesque waste of family resources". Lord Justice Thorpe, one of the Court of Appeal judges, said the parties were in their mid-40s and "seemingly very rich". He said the couple, who have three children - 16, 10 and seven - were together for 15 years, although they only married in 1998. In September 2003, the family emigrated to Spain for tax reasons but the "marriage did not long survive the move", said the judge. They separated late the same year and were divorced in Spain. "An extraordinary feature of the present case is the parties have spent about £1.5m in legal fees, most of it in proceedings concerning the question whether the financial consequences of the divorce should be determined in Spain (as the husband contends) or England." Lord Justice Thorpe, who said Lord Justice Lawrence Collins and Mr Justice Munby had contributed to the agreed judgment, added: "We do not know whether this lamentable and grotesque waste of family resources is the result of the intransigence of one or other of the parties or because the husband hopes, or has been advised, that the Spanish court ...will misapply English law to his benefit." The judge said both parties had been advised by their lawyers that even if the case was heard in Spain, the issues would be determined by applying English law. Mr Moore, 46, the chief executive of the Inside Track property advisory company, had offered his former wife £6m plus a portfolio of properties in Spain. But she turned it down and successfully applied to the High Court to bring the fight over the marital assets to England. Mr Moore, who lives at Casa Albatross in Marbella, Spain, took the case to the Court of Appeal in London, accusing his ex wife of "blatant forum shopping" to get the best deal from the courts. His former wife, who is 44 and lives in Thames Ditton, Surrey, can now go ahead with her battle for a greater share of the assets in the High Court Family Division in London.
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#1. To: robin (#0)
ahh, I wish I could afford a divorce like this. I'd stay married and spend the money on something more fun :)
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