Spear's quotes Miranda Fisher on the Standish v Standish Supreme Court hearing
The UK Supreme Court recently heard the high-profile divorce case of Standish v Standish - with a judgment anticipated later this year. The decision could set a significant precedent in UK family law, particularly concerning the treatment of pre-marital wealth and intra-spousal transfers during divorce settlements
The hearing examined whether a £77m transfer from husband to wife during the marriage should be classified as a matrimonial asset – or ringfenced as part of long-term estate planning.
The case involves Clive Standish, a retired UBS banker, and his former spouse, Anna Standish. The couple, who married in 2005 and initiated divorce proceedings in 2020, are disputing the classification of a £77m transfer from Clive to Anna during their marriage. This transfer, intended as part of an estate planning strategy for their children, was never finalised into a trust, leading to significant legal debates.
The High Court initially deemed the transferred assets as matrimonial property, awarding Anna £45m. However, the Court of Appeal reduced this award to £25m in May 2024, emphasising the importance of the source of wealth – primarily Clive’s pre-marital asset.
Miranda Fisher, Family Partner comments:
This case is likely to be a key Supreme Court decision in family law. We have seen, in line with societal change, the growing importance and regularity of nuptial agreements and more recent family court decisions, that pre marital or non matrimonial wealth will be of the utmost importance in a big money case where the court is looking at sharing arguments. The Court of Appeal has said a narrow approach needs to be taken when considering whether assets, originally in one party’s name become ‘matrimonialised’, and it will be interesting to see if the Supreme Court agrees with this and upholds the £20m reduction in award – heralding a victory and making a clear statement for the wealthier spouse.
"Notwithstanding the quantum of the reduction in award, given the transfer was made in 2017, only some three years before the divorce was initiated and following tax planning advice, Mrs Standish may have a more difficult argument to run to convince the court otherwise although they may review the quantum of her award.
Read the full piece in Spear's here.
