LE v EL

Facts

The applicant wife, LE, and the respondent husband, EL, began living together in late 1995 or 1996 and married in May 1997. There are two children of the family, both now adult and living with their father. The wife put the separation at about September 2019, the husband at 2016 or 2017; the judge found separation occurred in 2019 or 2020, making this a marriage in excess of 20 years. The wife filed for divorce on 24 February 2022 and a conditional order was made on 3 October 2023; her Form A was filed on 1 March 2022. She is 54, a nurse earning some £24,175 net a year, and had a classic homemaker role alongside employment; the husband is 45 and the chief executive of G Limited, the largest asset in the case, of which he holds 75 per cent and she 25 per cent. Other assets included the family home, an overseas villa held through a struck-off company, a SIPP and the wife's NHS pension, against liabilities including a director's loan account, overseas negative equity and £1.3 million of legal costs. The wife sought a sale of the company; the husband offered £1.8 million by instalments.