Husband tries to overturn divorce order with claim about £2m diamond

A husband who claimed his wife had concealed a £2 million diamond from him during divorce proceedings has failed to overturn their financial settlement.

Joanne Grey Senior Associate Solicitor in our family law team reports on this recent case.

The case involved a couple who had been married for several years and had two children.

Under the settlement of 2021, the husband was to receive the family home and the wife was to retain other assets including an inheritance.

The husband then applied to set aside the settlement because he believed his wife had a £2m diamond at the time, which should have been part of their joint assets.

The wife denied all knowledge of any diamond.

At the hearing in the Family Court, the husband said he found out about the diamond after being tipped off that it had been sold at auction.

The auctioneer was called to give evidence. He said the wife did not match the seller of the diamond, nor was anyone with her name involved in the sale.

During cross examination, the auctioneer admitted that he had made up a story about discovering the diamond at a car boot sale as a publicity stunt to generate interest in his business, which was struggling.

The husband read about this in the local paper and suspected his wife might be involved. The auctioneer said that was not the case and the diamond had, in fact, come from a seller in Antwerp. He was able to provide evidence to back up this assertion and it was accepted by the court.

The judge found the wife to be a credible witness and dismissed the husband’s application as there was no credible evidence to support it.

For more information about the issues raised in this article or any aspect of family law please contact Joanne on 01434 320362 or click here to send her an email.