Finanical director William Waggott is contesting the terms of his £9million divorce from his ex-wife Kim
A director of travel firm TUI who was ordered to pay his ex-wife maintenance for life by divorce courts is now battling to force her back to work.
Multi-millionaire accountant William Waggott, 54, was ordered to give his ex-wife Kim Waggott £9million in cash and assets after they split in 2012.
The money was to allow her to buy a £2million home in Cheshire and a holiday villa in Mallorca as well as enjoying £175,000-a-year personal maintenance for life.
But Mr Waggott says the order, made by a divorce judge in 2014, was unfair and means his wife – who is also an accountant – has ‘no financial incentive’ to get back to work.
A hearing in London’s Family Court was told the couple were married for 21 years and had one daughter. They lived in a ‘very substantial’ £4.3m property near Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire before splitting in 2012.
After the split, Mrs Waggott, 49, former finance controller of UCI cinemas, used her £9.14m share of the ‘fruits’ of the marriage to buy a £2m home near Chester and a Balearic holiday home.
Mr Waggott meanwhile moved into a £1.9m farm near St Albans ‘with another lady’, the Court of Appeal was told by Mrs Waggott’s lawyers.
Three senior judges at the Court of Appeal are considering whether to end the £175,000-a-year maintenance payments his ex-wife receives. She is claiming she deserves more
Nigel Dyer QC, for the husband, argued that the maintenance order should be ended in two years’ time and that Mrs Waggott should get back to work and start supporting herself.
‘How long should an order based on sharing last for? When does the meter stop ticking?’ he asked the judges.
‘It is unfair to expect the husband to continue working long hours in demanding employment and not expect the wife to realise her earning potential as soon as is reasonably practicable,’ he added.
‘The order gave the wife an unduly soft landing… moreover it provided no financial incentive or clear timetable for the wife to return to the job market,’ the barrister went on.
Mr Waggott says the current divorce settlement gives his wife no incentive to go back to work
‘The longer the wife leaves it the harder it will become. She has a working life ahead of her at least 12 years.
‘Given time, re-training and application, the wife could revive her career and obtain a well-paid job using her accountancy skills.
‘The wife has significant capital resources, which must make the case for a clean-break even more compelling, if not irrefutable,’ said Mr Dyer.
Mrs Waggott however claims she did not get enough from the financial package and wants her yearly payments increased by £23,000.
Her lawyer James Turner QC argued that she is entitled to an ongoing share of her husband’s earnings, as she helped him build his career by supporting him and the family on the home front.
He told the court the question of whether she is in financial ‘need’ is irrelevant, and urged the judges to concentrate instead on the issue of ‘fairness.’
He said: ‘A wife in her position, who has supported the husband through the early stages of a career during a 21-year relationship, should be entitled to a share of the fruits of that career, irrespective of ‘need’ in the conventional sense.
The hearing, before judges Sir James Munby, Lord Justice Moylan and Mr Justice MacDonald, continues.