Ratio Decidendi
The three principles governing ancillary relief on divorce are: needs, compensation (for relationship-generated disadvantage), and sharing (of the fruits of the matrimonial partnership). Non-matrimonial property may be treated differently from matrimonial property.
Fakty
Two appeals were heard together. In Miller, a wealthy fund manager left his wife after a short, childless marriage of under three years; during the marriage his fortune had grown very substantially, and the wife sought a share of that increase. In McFarlane, a long marriage had ended in which the wife, a former successful City solicitor, had by agreement given up a highly paid career to raise the couple's three children while the husband's own earnings grew to a very high level; the available capital was modest but the husband's income was large, raising the question of ongoing periodical payments to reflect her relationship-generated disadvantage.
Podsumowanie orzeczenia
The House of Lords identified three strands justifying financial awards: needs, compensation for relationship-generated disadvantage, and equal sharing of matrimonial assets. In Miller, the short marriage limited the sharing claim. In McFarlane, the wife's career sacrifice justified a substantial award.
Kluczowe cytaty
"The rationale of the sharing principle is that marriage is a partnership of equals... when the partnership ends, each is entitled to an equal share of the assets of the partnership."
— Lord Nicholls
Późniejsze zastosowanie
The three-strand approach (needs, compensation, sharing) is now the standard framework for ancillary relief.
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