Divorce Lies May Lead to Perjury Charge


Giving false evidence to any court can have serious consequences, as an errant ex-husband may be about to discover.

Ex-spouses are often reluctant to pay settlements awarded to their former partner and, in one extreme case, a husband who claimed to have paid £40,000 to his wife in bundles of £50 notes was condemned as a ‘disgraceful liar’ by a family judge.

Following divorce proceedings, the husband had been ordered to pay his wife a lump sum of £80,000. He claimed that she had agreed to accept only half of what he owed her so that her receipt of benefits would not be disturbed. He also claimed that a house he had sold really belonged to his brother. However, the judge rejected the husband’s evidence on these matters, commenting that it was ‘certainly false’.

The husband was also ordered to pay the wife’s legal costs on a punitive basis. The judge directed that papers in the case be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration as to whether the husband and his brother should be prosecuted for perjury.

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