Insurance mogul loses £48m divorce appeal

Updated 18.29 Thu May 24 2007

Keywords: divorce, Beverley, John Charman

An insurance mogul has lost his appeal over a £48 million divorce payment, the biggest in British legal history, to his former wife.

John Charman, 54, the head of Axis Capital Holdings, took the case to the Court of Appeal after stating his 53-year-old ex-wife Beverley's share in his fortune was "grotesque and unfair".

Mr Charman had previously described his 53-year-old former partner as "a housewife"

Following their divorce in 2005, he had argued that his £20 million offer was more than adequate. He also said a £70 million family trust should not have been taken into account when the total assets of the marriage were put at £131 million.

Having been described as "a housewife" by Mr Charman, her lawyers cited House of Lords guidelines laid down in previous big money divorce cases that family assets should generally be divided equally between the breadwinner and the homemaker.

Sir Mark Potter, president of the High Court Family Division, giving the appeal ruling on Thursday, said Mr Charman's special contribution had been taken into consideration when the award was made.

He said: "Neither in its method nor in its result do we regard the judge's treatment of the husband's special contribution as vulnerable to appeal."

Mr Charman has said is "profoundly disappointed" with the Court of Appeal ruling.