UK Supreme Court Curbs Asset Sharing in £133 Million Standish Divorce

The UK Supreme Court has unanimously rejected Anna Standish’s appeal for a larger share of the £133 million estate she amassed with former UBS chief financial officer Clive Standish, confirming that most of the couple’s wealth is not subject to the divorce ‘sharing principle’.

Five justices agreed that the £80 million in investments Mr Standish moved into his wife’s name in 2017 was transferred solely to mitigate inheritance tax and for the benefit of their children, not to place it in common ownership. Because the funds were largely derived from wealth he earned before the couple married in 2005, the Court ruled they remained his non-matrimonial property.

The decision upholds an earlier Court of Appeal judgment that cut Mrs Standish’s payout from £45 million to £25 million, leaving her ex-husband with roughly three-quarters of the family assets. Legal specialists say the ruling clarifies that non-matrimonial assets will not be divided unless couples can show clear intent to share them, a precedent expected to spur demand for prenuptial and post-nuptial agreements among high-net-worth individuals.