Standish v Standish: Supreme Court sets new precedent on asset sharing

A decision, made on 2nd July 2025, has been handed down in one of the most headline-grabbing family law cases of the past few years.

The dispute between Clive and Anna Standish centred on a transfer from Clive to Anna during the marriage of assets worth around £77million. The plan was that these funds would be held on trust for their shared children, and also happily saving some tax liabilities. These assets were still held in Anna’s sole name when she and Clive separated.

When the time came to try and resolve financial claims between Anna and Clive, it was Anna’s view that these assets should be considered “matrimonial” property and shared between her and Clive. Clive disagreed with this, saying that the funds were his from before the marriage so should be returned to / protected for him.

At the start of May 2025, the case came to the Supreme Court and the main consideration for the Court was to establish how matrimonial and non-matrimonial assets should be identified / distributed. The key takeaways are these:

• The primary determining factor is the source of the assets
• Non-matrimonial assets will be things like pre-marital assets or assets acquired by one of the parties during the marriage by way of gifts or inheritances
• Matrimonial assets will be assets generated as a result of the parties’ joint efforts
• Non-matrimonial assets should not be automatically subject to the sharing principle but can be considered in the context of needs and resources
• What begins as non-matrimonial property can become matrimonial property – this is the process of “matrimonialisation” (a brand-new word!) – the key to this analysis is to look at how the parties have been dealing with the assets in question and whether they were treated as shared

This is a key moment in case law for family solicitors, although it is unlikely to be the last decision that has to be made by a Court about what belongs to whom following the breakdown of a marriage. This judgment should however bring about more certainty for legal advisors, and very much underlines the importance of tax and estate planning and the assistance that can be gained from professional wealth management experts.

You can view the full judgement here - Standish (Appellant) v Standish (Respondent) - UK Supreme Court.

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