Maria and Paul Saward fell in love on Majorca, married in Gibraltar in 2009 and lived in Spain before she left her husband in June 2011 after a row.
Mrs Saward, 63, decided to sue for divorce in England because she believed a judge would look more favourably on her claim for a share of her husband’s fortune than the courts would in Spain.
However, Mr Saward has claimed throughout that the court had no jurisdiction over his marital status or money as he was not resident in Britain – even though his has several properties in Hampshire.
He claimed he had left Britain because of the miserable weather and although he disliked many things about Spain, would not return to live in the UK.
Still married
Mrs Saward was granted a decree nisi in the UK and demanded a share of her husband’s wealth.
The High Court upheld Mr Saward’s appeal against the granting of the divorce, ruling the court had no jurisdiction as he was resident in Spain despite occasionally visiting the UK.
Mrs Saward appealed the ruling, which was confirmed by the Court of Appeal.
The end result is the decree decision is reversed and the couple are still married.
In the case, judges remarked that the case was viewed from the ‘wrong end of the telescope’ by concentrating on residency rather than division of assets.
In her judgment, Lady Justice Black warned Mrs Saward: “You have no chance of asking a British court to rule this judgment is not right.”
Destroyed my life
“Marrying this man has completely destroyed my life,” said Mrs Saward after the hearing.
“I don’t understand if I am married or not after this decision and have no idea whether my husband has started a divorce in Spain.
“I have no income, no savings. All my money went into our home in Spain. I have nothing.”
Under Spanish law covering the region where the Sawards lived, any property jointly owned is divided equally, regardless of whether the couple are married.
However, if the property is in a sole name, even if a couple are married, the asset is not divided.
It was this law that triggered Mrs Saward to look for a divorce in Britain rather than Spain.
