Friends With Benefits

Divorce proceedings usually evoke notions of hostile and expensive litigation. Indeed, many such high profile divorces make for good journalistic fodder and the recent case of Sekhi v Ray [2013] EWHC 2290 (Fam) is a prime example. The husband in Shekhi v Ray is a partner in a world class American law firm and the wife is a paediatric anaesthetist. The parties have one child, a son, now aged approximately 2 ½ years. Their marriage was short, lasting less than four years. As a result of their acrimonious and prolonged child, divorce and ancillary relief -related litigation in England, Singapore and India, the parties spent approximately £860,000 on legal costs. This sum amounted to almost one quarter of their total net accumulated wealth (estimated at £4 million), leading the Judge to equate the parties' litigious behaviour to 'financial suicide.'