Divorce ruling: Alison Sharland and Varsha Gohil win appeal - BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34524641

I've never understood these major divorce rulings - why is it usually half? Future earnings? That's mafia sh1t, WTF's going on?

I can understand circumstances like cheating, kids, and so on, but that apparently has little bearing short of a protracted case. Mental payouts seem to be the norm.

simple answer : Lawyers. Once they get involved what is logical or 'common sense' goes out the window, it becomes entirely a case of whose lawyer is best and what they can argue their client 'deserves'.

This ruling makes sense. Surely hiding assets at the original hearing is a form of fraud.

It strikes me that there's a lot wrong with how divorce settlements end up being calculated, but this particular ruling is bang on right imho.

Agreed. How assets are distributed after a divorce is a very complex matter to which there is probably no 'one size fits all' answer but it seems patently obvious that any discussion requires good knowledge of what the assets really are.

Jon