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Dont Look to Soap Operas for Advice on how to Conduct a Divorce- 20/05/2011
Anyone considering a divorce should not be tempted to follow the current storyline in BBC soap Eastenders, concerning the divorce of Ian and Jane Beale, according to a leading Wolverhampton family lawyer.
A recent episode (transmitted on Tuesday 17 May) showed Phil Mitchell ransacking the Beale home looking for evidence that Ian Beale had hidden away assets in order to stop his divorcing wife Jane having a fair share. Using a crowbar, Phil found a stash of cash hidden secretly in the cellar.
“Unfortunately this could not happen in a real divorce, as the courts have protected Ian’s right to confidentiality. Jane could not use the knowledge of the hidden money in court to obtain a greater share of the marital assets, in her case Bridge Street Cafe,” says Elizabeth Cleverley, partner and head of family law in FBC Manby Bowdler’s Wolverhampton office.
“The right to confidentiality taking precedence over the right to each party receiving full disclosure of the other party’s assets was laid down by the courts in a ruling on the Imerman case last year,” explains Mrs Cleverley.
“Prior to that a previous court ruling had accepted the reality of spouses assisting themselves with a search for documents or information about the other’s assets and pass them on to their solicitor, even if they were confidential, but the Imerman ruling, also dubbed a ‘cheat’s charter’ put an end to that.
According to Mrs Cleverley, any documents obtained secretly by one party in a divorce from another now have to be very carefully handled by the solicitors.
She says: “We can only use such documents if we are sure that they cannot be regarded as confidential. If bank account details are left lying around in the open, they may no longer be regarded as confidential, but people who leave items such as diaries, mobile phones and handbags left unattended would still most likely regard their contents as confidential. In fact even handing over confidential documents can put solicitors in a tricky situation.
“Instead we have to rely on the legal disclosure process. However, is it possible to apply for legal orders to prevent the destruction and deletion of certain documents or laptop computers, hard drives or memory sticks, where information is stored.
“The disclosure process can be complex and time-consuming and may even require the services of a forensic accountant, but however unfair it may seem, rather than risk trouble with the courts, it is far better to discover to full extent of one party’s assets this way than resort to secret searching.
“In real life it is far more likely that Ian Beale would have had a secret bank account held in the UK or perhaps overseas, rather than risk a stash of undeclared and untaxed cash being stolen. His deception was found out, but until this legal ruling is amended, this may not always be the case in real life.”