Ex-Wife Describes High Court Judgment As ‘Disgraceful’

The High Court has ruled that a property tycoon, jailed earlier this year over claims he failed to disclose vital financial information to the courts during divorce proceedings with his estranged wife, is worth £40 million.

Scot Young, 51, was given a six month sentence at the start of the year for contempt of court after he did not provide the required information on his assets and had argued that he was bankrupt with debts of around £28m.

However, today’s ruling means his wife Michelle will receive a sum of £20m, half of what he has been judged to be worth.

Mrs Young, who had repeatedly claimed her former husband had manipulated his affairs in order to avoid paying out a settlement, described the judgment as "disgraceful". She told the judge in the case, Mr Justice Moor, that she would settle for a £300m share of Mr Young’s "vast fortune", plus legal expenses.

Mr Justice Moor said in a written ruling: "This case has been quite extraordinary even by the standards of the most bitter of matrimonial breakdowns. It has been conducted in the full glare of the media.

"Extremely serious allegations have been bandied around like confetti."

Expert Opinion

This latest ruling should be a further warning to people involved in divorce proceedings that there are consequences of not complying with court orders and judges are getting tougher with people who disobey them. The Young case is another high profile example, in a similar vein to Petrodel v Prest, in which it is alleged that the husband has manipulated financial assets or the status of their business to avoid paying their ex-wife. <br/> <br/>"The family courts are showing that they are prepared to investigate every element of a spouse’s financial affairs and are not afraid to try to unravel complex webs of assets to ensure that court orders are adhered to and the other party receives the payments awarded to them. In the case of Scot and Michelle Young the judge has decided that he is not in fact bankrupt as he claimed and has awarded her a lump sum of £20m, half the £40m fortune the court has ruled he has available to him. <br/> <br/>"It might not be the end of the road for Michelle Young. As Yasmin Prest is discovering, a court order awarding a financial settlement may need to be enforced via further litigation if a disobedient husband fails to meet the obligation imposed on him by the court. Our guess is that this will not be the end of the Young litigation."