Regretful spending decisions: millionaire divorcee to serve as a lesson?

While family lawyers now frequently deal with cases arising on the separation of unmarried families the jurisdictional basis for such proceedings falls to be considered less often and arises in a legal framework which may be unfamiliar to family lawyers. The recent decision of Mr Justice Lavender on jurisdiction in Gray v Hurley [2019] EWHC 1636 (QB) provides assistance on some of the issues which may arise in such cases. 

Mandy Gray the claimant in these proceedings is a familiar figure to family practitioners having been the applicant in the financial remedy case of Work v Gray [2017] EWCA 270 in which she was awarded half of her husband's $225m wealth. The current proceedings concern the fallout of Ms Gray's six year relationship with Hamish Hurley her former physical therapist. 

Ms Gray and Mr Hurley a New Zealand national who had lived in the UK since 2002 were in a relationship between March 2013 and early 2019. They travelled widely and acquired by use of Ms Gray's resources assets worth tens of millions of pounds including a property...

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