The latest case to come before the Supreme Court is the case of Agbage. Mr and Mrs Agbage were Nigerian and spent most of their 35 year marriage living in Nigeria, although they spent some time in England. The marriage broke down in 1999 and after this the wife settled in England. Some years later the husband initiated divorce proceedings in Nigeria and obtained a decree. The wife made an application for financial provision within the Nigerian proceedings. The courts awarded her a lump sum to cover her maintenance for life, which they calculated to be at £21,000 and a life interest in the parties’ home in Nigeria worth around £83,000. The wife then made an application under Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 in England, asking permission for the English Courts to deal with the issue of financial provision after a divorce in another jurisdiction, and in particular where a financial award has been made under legislation which is recognisably similar to English legislation, that amounts to only a fraction of what would have been awarded by the English Courts. The High Court agreed with Mrs Agbage and gave her 65% of the English home on the proviso that she gave up her interest in the Nigerian property. The husband appealed and the Court of Appeal disagreed with the lower courts and dismissed wife’s award.
The Supreme Court restored the award to wife and said “it did not fall markedly short of what the wife would have received in purely English proceedings”.
The Court of Appeal has approached the jurisdiction under this statute on the basis that it should only be exercised in exceptional circumstances. The Supreme Court’s decision has left the door open for many more of these applications where parties have a connection with England.
Helen Bowns