Court rejects Oz woman’s claim for $278k a month in divorce settlement

MELBOURNE - An Australian woman’s claim for 278,000 dollars a month in spousal maintenance from her ex-husband for herself and her only son, has been rejected by the Family Court.

The wife, who cannot be named, applied for the money before a final settlement from her husband, whose wealth has been estimated at between 77 million dollars and 110 million dollars, reports the Courier Mail.

She also wanted a 24 million dollars property settlement, including a 3.3 million dollars chalet in Switzerland, and 1.2 million dollars a year to pay for four full-time carers for their son, who has autism.

She has already extracted 16 million dollars from the pool of marital assets but told the court the money had been spent on legal fees and living expenses, and she needed more to cover her costs pending a final settlement.

The couple from Adelaide met in the late 1980s and married in 1994, and their only child was born in 1996.

The wife claims the child has autism and needs the support of four full-time carers, three of whom are her own siblings, who are being paid 110,000 dollars a year.

The husband’s legal team is contesting the claim.

In an earlier hearing - there have been 28 so far - the court heard that the boy had become “very much the little prince” in his home, where “paid helpers work to fit around him”.

A child psychologist, who cannot be named, said the boy operated in a “comfort zone, where he basically gets his own way most of the time”.

The father, whose declared income is 300,000 dollars a week, and who has been living in Hong Kong with his new wife since 2008, has been fighting in court to see his son since 2007.

The court has tried to set up meetings, but the wife has failed to deliver the boy, saying he becomes extremely anxious when told he must see his father.

In the most recent hearing of the matter, before judge Christine Dawe in Adelaide, the wife made her claim for 278,000 dollars a month in spousal support backdated to 2005.

The husband proposed paying 10,788 dollars a week or 560,000 dollars a year for the boy’s care and education. He recently paid 691,000 dollars into a trust fund to cover bills.

The wife backed her claim with a statement of recent expenditure, showing 4624 dollars spent on balloons and flowers for the child’s 14th birthday party, and 97,000 dollars for a new car, although she has one valued at “more than half a million dollars”.

Her legal fees to queen’s counsel were listed at 125,000 dollars a month during the trial.

Her own weekly expenses were put at 6254 dollars a week, including 2300 dollars for holidays, and 800 dollars for clothes.

The wife’s claim for an interim property settlement was rejected pending the full hearing, as was the claim for 278,000 dollars a week in spousal maintenance.

The court did, however, grant her 375,000 dollars in a lump sum, pending the full hearing, which may be held later this year. (ANI)