Judgement has been given in the case of Prest v Petrodel [2013]. The Judgement found that the wife would be allowed to transfer assets held by her husband’s companies as part of her divorce settlement.
Throughout the proceedings the husband, Michael Prest, who is the sole controller of seven companies refused to disclose assets to the court and deliberately ignored court orders. The wife sought to argue that he was worth considerably more than he said as a result of assets held by his companies which included the family home and five other London properties.
The Judge who originally heard the matter found that the company assets could be taken into account but on appeal this was overturned. The Supreme Court however agreed with the original Judge and found that the assets were being held on trust by the companies for the benefit of the husband.