Heather Mills: FAIL - Page 12
In his oral evidence he expressed much the same views. He agreed that during the marriage there was a heightened level of security because that was what the wife wanted and he went along with it. There was no need for such a level now.
Charity expenditure at an annual rate of £627,000 includes airfares of £180,000 for commercial flights, £120,000 for helicopter flights, and £192,000 for private flights. I accept that the wife is very committed to charities and their causes but the degree of such proposed expenditure is, I am sorry to have to say, ridiculous.However I do propose to allow in what I shall assess as her income needs (generously interpreted) a modest sum for carrying out her charitable activities and making donations to charity. If she wishes to make further donations over and above that sum then she can do that from her earnings.
Holidays are put into her budget at £499,000 which is made up of accommodation at £242,000, helicopter flights at £35,000, commercial flights at £72,000 and private flights at £150,000. I accept the wife's evidence that she has always since the age of 25 flown first class and that when she and Beatrice fly they should go first class.
The husband accepted this in his evidence. But the figures given are much, much too high in every respect.
These items in her budget which I have touched upon above, illustrate generally speaking, how unreasonable (even generously interpreted) are the claimed needs of the wife.In the absence of any sensible proposal by the wife as to her income needs I must do the best I can on the material I have.
If the wife feels aggrieved about what I propose she only has herself to blame. If, as she has done, a litigant flagrantly over-eggs the pudding and thus deprives the court of any sensible assistance, then he or she is likely to find that the court takes a robust view and drastically prunes the proposed budget.
I  shall, exceptionally, include a figure of £50,000 p.a. to enable the wife to carry out charitable activities and to make charitable donations. In my judgment this is warranted in the particular circumstances of this case. Whatever else may be said about the wife, her devotion to her charities is very impressive. Over many years, and in particular during the marriage, the wife was very generous in her charitable giving and did much work on behalf of her selected charities. She very much wants to continue along this path. The husband, too, was, and continues to be, generous to charities.I do not think therefore that he can legitimately complain if the wife's budget includes such a sum.
[Paul's capital and income needs] can be assessed in a sentence. He has more than enough assets and income to cater for his needs. I should add that the husband has an outstanding liability for legal costs in respect of these proceedings of about £200,000 (i.e. taking into account what he has already paid on account). He has discharged the fees of Ernst and Young directly.
Lastly, in respect of the matters set out in S.25 (2) I turn to conduct. On the first day of the hearing before me oral submissions were made as to the relevance of conduct. Having heard the wife and Mr Mostyn I ruled that neither party would be permitted to introduce allegations of either marital or post separation conduct. I refused to accede to Mr Mostyn's fall back position. I told the parties I would give my reasons in my judgment; and this I now do.
Whew...I need a nap. Think about all this next time you're fighting about who left the cap off the toothpaste and how much to spend on groceries this week, and hire a marriage counselor. Continued on the next page
Follow Technorati