Norris v Norris
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Mr Justice Bennett |
| Judgment Date | 28 November 2002 |
| Neutral Citation | [2002] EWHC 2996 (Fam) |
| Docket Number | Case No FD00D05701 |
| Court | Family Division |
| Date | 28 November 2002 |
[2002] EWHC 2996 (Fam)
Mr Justice Bennett
Case No FD00D05701
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
FAMILY DIVISION
Royal Courts of Justice
MR NICHOLAS MOSTYN QC and MR NICHOLAS CUSWORTH appeared on behalf of the PETITIONER
MR TIMOTHY SCOTT QC and THE HON. MISS CLARE RENTON appeared on behalf of the RESPONDENT
Mrs Norris ("the wife") seeks a lump sum on the basis of a clean break in ancillary relief proceedings against Mr Norris ("the husband"). The wife is 49 years old and the husband is 60. In the autumn of 1972 when the wife was 19 and the husband was 30, the parties met. In March 1973 they started their relationship and in June 1975 they married. They had no children until Oliver was born on 28 June 1982. He is therefore now 20 years old and is well provided for.
In October 1998 the parties separated. In October and November of 2000 the wife attempted to issue a petition for divorce, but it was incorrectly drafted and was not issued by the Divorce Registry. On 30 November 2000 the husband issued his petition for divorce based upon the grounds of the wife's adultery. The wife responded by filing an answer and cross-prayer, but on 20 April 2001 by consent the wife's petition was dismissed. The husband's prayer was stayed and the suit proceeded undefended on the wife's answer and cross-prayer. A decree nisi was pronounced in 7 August 2001 and the decree was made absolute on 18 April 2002
The present position of the parties is simply stated. The wife remains living in the former matrimonial home, Lovelands Mead, which is an attractive property near Kingswood and Tadworth in the North Downs. She is the sole owner of that property and has been so since January 2000 when the husband transferred his half-share in it to the wife. The wife's assets are, including Lovelands Mead, either £3,618,588 or £3,669,088 if the chattels that she inherited from her family are added back in. The wife is friendly with a Mr Richard Kent, a neighbouring farmer, and it would appear from the wife's evidence that she sees that relationship as long term.
So far as the husband is concerned, by the time of the separation the husband was having an affair with Juliet Quartermain, with whom he now lives. In December 1998 a girl, Genevieve, was born to Miss Quartermain, of whom the husband is the father. In July 2000 a son, Elliot, was born to Miss Quartermain and the husband. The husband and Miss Quartermain live in Woodlands House in Kingswood, not far away from Lovelands Mead. That property was purchased in October 1999 in the joint names of the husband and Miss Quartermain. The husband contributed £867,671 and Miss Quartermain £20,000 towards the purchase of that property. The husband has spent about £170,000 on improvements. He accepts that he should be treated as the sole owner of Woodlands House. The husband's assets are said to be £3,395,374 or, if the value of his pension fund is included, £4,129,363. In addition to that there is a dispute about whether or not the jewellery which the husband gave to Miss Quartermain valued at £30,000 should also be added back in, and if so, the husband's total assets are approximately £4,160,000.
One might have thought that with each party possessing the size of the assets which I have indicated settlement of this dispute would have been easy and rapid. However, it has not proved to be so. It is thus necessary for me to adjudicate in the matter. I must first undertake a brief history of their marriage and of their backgrounds.
The wife left school with O-levels but no A-levels. She became a secretary and by the time of her marriage she was an editorial assistant in a publication called Albright News. Upon marriage she gave up that work and has not worked since. In 1960 the husband joined Alcan as a student trainee and progressed through various companies until in 1973 he became assistant and programming manager at United Glass. In 1976 he joined Computer People as a senior sales representative earning about £19,000 per annum. At the time the parties were married they were living in the husband's home in Chiswick. In April 1977 the flat at Chiswick was sold and a house at Cronks Hill Road in Reigate was purchased in the joint names of the parties for £32,000. The net proceeds of sale from Chiswick, i.e. £13,000, was put into Cronks Hill Road and the husband took out a mortgage for £20,000 which he paid.
In August 1978 the parties moved to Lovelands Mead which was purchased in their joint names for £87,000. It was financed as follows: £32,500 equity from Cronks Hill Road, £25,000 mortgage and £32,664 from the wife's family trust. Over the course of time improvements were done to Lovelands Mead and it is accepted by the husband that the wife put in £90,000 of her own money. The husband also put in a substantial sum of money, either £48,500 according to the wife or £55,000 according to the husband. The house was remortgaged in accordance with the contents of a document at Bundle B1, page 2. In July 1984 the mortgage of £25,000 was increased to £30,250 in order to pay off the husband's overdraft. In October 1984 the mortgage was increased to £60,500 in order to fund the purchase of a property at 34 Wilmotts Close for the husband's mother.
In December 1986 the mortgage was increased to £100,932 for a purchase which is unclear, but which may have been connected to the shares in a company called Gatton, to which I will come in due course. In May 1996 there was a remortgage in the sum of £120,000 to the Cheltenham & Gloucester Building Society. A further sum may have been added to the mortgage in order to purchase a paddock adjoining Lovelands Mead. Accordingly I am told that the amount outstanding on the mortgage at the time the marriage broke down was a total sum of £120,932. In January 1999 the husband paid off that in its entirety. It is common ground that throughout the marriage it was he who serviced the mortgage.
During the marriage the wife was in receipt of considerable sums first from family trusts and secondly an inheritance from her mother. There were three trusts, details of which are set out in the wife's affidavit of 29 April 2001 at page 70. There is no dispute that she received net of CGT a total sum of £72,389 by the time Lovelands Mead was bought. In August 1991 the wife's mother died. The wife inherited £298,53She spent £80,000 in buying out her sister's interest in a box at the Royal Albert Hall and £140,000 in the purchase of property in London at 14a Kensington Place. In addition she inherited various armour, antique furniture, jewellery and works of art and a second-hand Rolls Royce car.
The husband's skill was in IT recruitment. In about 1979 a company called Gatton Computer Group Limited was set up. The husband has explained in his affidavit of 11 September 2002 (see A/96) that in December 1978 there was a meeting at which were present himself, the wife, Mike Singleton, Chris Gibbs and Martyn Nicholls, all of whom were employed by Computer People. This was obviously a highly confidential meeting, because everybody other than the wife were employed by Computer People and the intention was to leave that company and set up a rival. In the early part of 1979 Gatton was duly set up. The percentage shareholding was as follows: husband 30 per cent, wife 30 per cent, Martyn Nicholls 20 per cent, Chris Gibbs 20 per cent and Mike Singleton 10 per cent.
The husband said that in January 1979 he approached Lloyds Bank with a business plan and asked for a loan of £100,000. It was to be secured on Lovelands Mead and Martyn Nicholls' flat. The bank agreed to lend the new company that sum, to be made available in tranches of £25,000. The wife also agreed to lend Gatton £10,000 of her own money to enable the husband to purchase a Rover 3.5. That sum was repaid in full in December 1979, when similar cars were purchased for the other directors. The husband said that the bank facility of £100,000 was never fully called upon. The most the company borrowed was £50,000 and by 1983 the borrowings had been fully repaid. In 1984 the shareholdings changed as a result of an option agreement. The husband's shareholding became approximately 27.5 per cent and the wife's 15 per cent. The shareholdings of Nicholls, Singleton and Gibbs became 22.5 per cent, 17.5 per cent and 17.5 per cent respectively.
From about 1980 or 1981, the husband's income from Gatton rose from £24,000 to a high point in 1984 of £70,000. His income then decreased to a low of £64,000 in 1989, but by 1991 it was £102,000. The figures for the last years are: 1992 £69,000, 1993 £35,000, 1994 £137,000, 1995 £118,000, 1996 £107,000 and 1997 £114,000.
In the early part of the 1990s the recession struck and affected the profitability of Gatton. The husband asked the wife to assist the company in 1992 and 1993 by formally lending to Gatton various sums of money. On 24 July 1992 the wife lent Gatton £70,000 which was repaid within a week. On 22 February 1993 the wife lent £75,000 which was repaid within just over two weeks. On 18 March 1993 the wife lent £100,000 to Gatton which was repaid with interest over six weeks. On 13 May 1993, three days after the repayment of £100,000, the wife again lent £100,000 and that was repaid by September 1993, i.e. a period of four months.
The wife said that she therefore lent Gatton £345,000 and I am satisfied that she is mistaken. The most that she ever lent at any one time was £100,000. Furthermore, although they were formal loans and the monies that the wife used were taken from her resources and in particular from a bank deposit account which was paying an interest rate of only 4 per cent, the company agreed to pay the wife interest on her loan at 10 per cent. Accordingly, the wife received not only all her capital...
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