He said, she said

A software tycoon described his ex-wife as a “psychopath” after a bitter row erupted over a family fortune, during which she claimed he had hidden assets, including the proceeds of the sale of two flats in North Africa.  She went on to brand her former husband as “cruel, spiteful and wicked”, with her barrister claiming that he had conducted his financial affairs “with arrogant contempt” for her and the court.
 
According to the barrister, Anthony Colborne had sold off foreign investments without consulting his ex-wife, Lynda, and had “hidden” assets worth £800,000 out of a pot worth more than £5m.  Earlier this year, the Court of Appeal ruled that the wife should get the family home in Berkshire, £16,000 and all her husband’s pension but Mr Colborne appealed that decision on the grounds he has had to bring up their three children since the separation, with any extra money going to pay off joint obligations including school fees, mortgage payments and overdrafts.
 
Mr Colborn’s barrister added that it was not appropriate for the judge simply to ignore the fact that the children live with their father and do not see their mother. To do so would be failing to address how they will be housed, clothed, fed and have their school fees paid for.
 
The couple married in 1995, separated in 2011 and divorced this year but in 2007 Mr Colborne sold his £5m share in the software company he set up and says he has not worked since then, although he owns what he claims is a loss-making coffee shop locally and has investments in Morocco, which have not yet paid off.
 
In such cases, the legal teams on both sides will employ investigative accountants, who will determine exactly where the money is being or has been spent and whether the coffee shop is indeed making a loss. Whatever the truth of the matter, these experts will find it and the judge will use their findings to make his final ruling.

Author: Roger Isaacs, 31 October 2014

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