Judge Made Laws are Flawed

This successful appeal by the husband (see press report below) follows an absolutely crazy, incompetent and palpably biased decision by a family court judge.

Even so, the appeal court judges still find it necessary to make "a modest award" even though there were not the slightest legal grounds for ANY award.

It will be interesting to read their judgment. No doubt, as usual, they'll make up the law as they go along. Why even bother with a Parliament really!?

Man wins 30-year-old divorce payout appeal

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/25/ndivorce125.xml

A wealthy retired builder has won his appeal over a court ruling that he must pay more money to the woman he divorced nearly 30 years ago.

Dennis North, 70, was ordered last year to pay his first wife, Jean £202,000 by a family judge who heard she had "fallen on hard times" after embarking on a lifestyle she could not afford.

Lord Justice Thorpe, giving his ruling in the Court of Appeal today, said: "The prodigal former wife cannot hope to turn to a former husband in pursuit of a legal remedy, whatever may be her hope that he might, out of charity, come to her rescue."

But he, together with Lord Justice May and Mr Justice Bennett, agreed that Mrs North, 62, may have entitlement to a "modest award" which they will assess by the end of next week.

The couple, who married in 1964, divorced in 1978 - a year after he found out she was having an affair with the man she later went to live with.
In 1981 he made a financial settlement with Mrs North buying her a house and investments.

Over the years, he increased her assets so that she would have been able to live comfortably for the rest of her life.
But in 1999, she sold up and moved to Australia where she saw her capital dwindle because of bad investments and what the court was told was a lifestyle beyond her means.

A district judge awarded her a lump sum of £202,000 in April last year after agreeing that Mrs North's money troubles had nothing to do with her former husband and he had no further responsibility towards her.
Since his divorce from his first wife, Mr North has prospered and his wealth is now estimated at between £5 million and £11 million, the court was told.
Mr North, who still lives in the former matrimonial home outside Sheffield, was left to bring up the three children of the marriage and has two children by his second wife.

He asked the Court of Appeal to quash the award.

Lord Justice Thorpe said today that that approach was "fundamentally flawed" and the appeal should be allowed.

He said any settlement must be fair to both parties and it did not follow that Mr North was responsible financially for any of Mrs North's needs.