Lawyers welcome Appeal Court ruling on rich divorces

Family lawyers this week welcomed the landmark Court of Appeal judgment which gives divorcing women a better chance of gaining a half-share of their husband's assets.

Shan Lambert was married to Harry Lambert, founder of the Adscene chain of free newspapers, for 23 years.

She was awarded 7.5 million of his 20 million fortune, but took the case to the Court of Appeal demanding a 50/50 split.

The presiding judge agreed that as a wife and mother, she had been an equal partner in his business life.

Peter Watson-Lee, chairman of the Law Society's family law committee, said it was valuable guidance: 'The judge's discretion in big-money divorce cases is so wide that it has always been very difficult to predict which way the assets would be split.'

Victoria MacCallum