This is what happened in a recent divorce case, published in the Law Society Gazette as ‘Crowther v. Crowther & Ors’. The exasperated judge overseeing the case, Mr Justice Peel, has described it as an “almost complete breakdown of constructive communication”.

Between them, the divorcing couple have racked up 41 statements, 34 hearings and an eye-watering total bill of £2.3 million in legal costs. The paperwork amounts to a staggering 6,000 pages, as the husband and wife were unable to agree on even the smallest of matters. In fact, according to the judge, they have actively argued on even the tiniest of trivial issues.  

A complicated and combative case

The Crowther couple started divorce proceedings all the way back in September 2019. There were delays in processing the divorce petitions, followed by seemingly endless litigation and acrimonious disagreement.  

Many of these centred on the successful shipping business the couple had co-owned, with Mrs Crowther arguing that her ex-husband was attempting to defraud her of millions of pounds in matrimonial assets. At the time, Mrs Justice Lieven described Mrs Crowther’s unrelenting conduct in the litigation as “fairly extraordinary”.  

There have been countless twists and turns in this divorce saga, nearly all of which have centred on financial matters. Mr Justice Peel remarked that each person imagined the other as “out to destroy them” and that despite a “bitterly fought adversarial approach”, all that has been achieved is an enormous legal bill.  

Decision remains on how to divide debts

The Crowther v. Crowther case has now reached a rather predictable and sad outcome. Due to the astronomical legal costs – around £1.4 million by the wife and £900,000 by the husband – the judge now has to decide how best to divide debts, not assets. The couple have net assets of £1.75 million, but this substantial fortune has now been wasted through years of petty and acrimonious legal proceedings.  

Mr Justice Peel said in the most recent hearing:

“The only beneficiaries of this nihilistic litigation have been the specialist and high-quality lawyers. The main losers are probably the children who, quite apart from the emotional pain of seeing their parents involved in such bitter proceedings, will be deprived of monies which I am sure their parents would otherwise have wanted them to benefit from in due course.”

How to avoid money battles and a hostile divorce

Financial matters can be tricky to navigate during divorce, and communication breakdown is common. But with the right legal advice, a willingness to compromise and all the facts at your fingertips, separation can be smoother than you think.

Get in touch with Wirral divorce solicitor Tracey Miller Family Law for practical, jargon-free advice that you can really trust.