Finances case could be ‘the most extensively litigated family dispute in legal history’
We all know that divorce cases can take a long time to resolve. It is not unusual, for example, for a financial remedy dispute to take a year or more to come to a conclusion.
But just occasionally a case is reported that takes longer. Much longer.
In Gohil v Gohil the wife issued her divorce petition in May 2002, but the case was still proceeding last month, when Mr Justice Williams handed down his judgment after re-hearing the wife’s financial remedies application. The case may yet continue further.
Why has it taken so long?
Well, here is just a very brief, and much simplified, taste of what took place:
1. In June 2002 the wife issued her financial remedies application.
2. In April 2004 the parties agreed a ‘modest’ financial settlement, despite the fact that the wife believed that the husband had failed to make full disclosure of his means, and a consent court order was drawn up to put it into effect.
3. In 2007 the wife applied to have the consent order set aside, because of the husband’s non-disclosure.
4. In 2011 the husband was convicted of money laundering and forgery, sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, and eventually had a confiscation order made against him in the sum of £27,967,337.45.
5. In 2012 the wife’s application was granted, and the order was set aside.
6. The husband appealed against the set aside, and in 2014 the Court of Appeal allowed his appeal.
7. The wife appealed against this decision, to the Supreme Court. In 2015, the Supreme Court allowed her appeal, and ordered that her financial remedies application be reheard.
8. The rehearing did not take place until this year, because the court was waiting for proceedings relating to the confiscation order to conclude. That did not happen until 2023.
All of this led Mr Justice Williams to comment:
“The name Gohil will linger long in the memories of lawyers and judges across a range of jurisdictions. Whether, as has been suggested, this is the most extensively litigated ‘family’ dispute in legal history I do not know.”
He pointed out that in May 2002 the wife and the husband were 37 years old, and their three children were 10, 8 and 5. The husband and wife are now 60, and their children are 33, 31 and 28.
He went on to say that the consent order, which should have marked the end of the matter, “was certainly not the end of the dispute, not even the end of the beginning, for the 21 years since have seen the most extraordinary implosion of a family play out through the criminal, family and civil courts and even this judgment may not represent the beginning of the end.”
The case has, of course, been a tragedy for the family, and stands as a warning as to how disastrous protracted family litigation can be.
As to what financial settlement Mr Justice Williams ordered, there is not space here to even begin to summarise. But if you want to know what he decided, and if you have the time, you can read all 259 paragraphs of his judgment (not to mention the predictably lengthy chronology), here.
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