Section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1972 prescribes that when deciding the terms of the financial settlement upon Divorce, the Court must consider a number of issues, including the parties’ needs, resources, contributions to the marriage and conduct, if “it would be inequitable to disregard…”

It is well established Case Law that if the parties’ conduct or behaviour will make a difference to the financial settlement, only in truly exceptional cases, where it is “obvious and gross”.

In the recent case of T v T, the parties had separated after seven years of marriage and reconciled three years later on the condition that the husband entered in to a post nuptial agreement which provided for the majority of the matrimonial property to be transferred to the wife’s name.

Fourteen years later it was discovered that the husband was guilty of sustained and serious sexual abuse of his grandchildren.

Both parties were past retirement age. The wife had assets of £4.3 million, the husband had £100,000.00 and a small pension. The Court agreed that the husband should be bound by the terms of the post nuptial agreement and gave weight to his conduct which amounted to the “grossest breach of trust” and had been responsible for the destruction of the marriage.