Whaley v Whaley, Round 2. One for the girls?

Millionaire Athelstan Whaley appeared before the Court of Appeal last Wednesday in an attempt to overturn Mrs Justice Baron’s order made last year requiring him to transfer to his former wife Belinda two properties in Kent and to pay her a lump sum of £3 million. Athelstan’s basic presentation is that complying with the order will render him homeless, leave him with no liquidity and in the words of his counsel, Charles Howard QC, lead to “…the end of a perfectly legitimate trust for the grandchildren and possibly the next generation”.

It is said that Athelstan’s assets amount to about £4 million and the trusts’ a further £6 million. To meet the order made against him the trustees of funds over which Athelstan says he has no control will have to hand over a large proportion of the funds, for the benefit of Belinda, who is not a beneficiary of either trust, each set up by Athelstan’s father. Athelstan is a beneficiary of one of the trusts, with the other owning and managing a golf course in East Sussex valued at £2.4 million.

Belinda takes the view, through Martin Pointer QC, that Athelstan tried to pull the wool over Mrs Justice Baron’s eyes and failed, the judge having concluded that the husband had behaved dishonestly with “…the complicity of the trustees.” In Belinda’s view 36% of the assets after 21 years of marriage and 4 children is “unimpeachable”.

We must wait for the answer on this one, as the court is to deliver its judgment later. In the meantime, what are the odds do you think of the original order being overturned? Not good, I would surmise.

Jeremy Abraham