Court of Appeal judgment in Culligan v Rosemin-Culligan was published today following the appeal hearing in April.

Alexander Thorpe KC, leading Cara Donegan, instructed by Franklin price of Judge Sykes Frixou, successfully appealed Mr Justice MacDonald’s decision in Rosemin-Culligan v Culligan [2025] EWFC 1 on behalf of the husband. The Court of Appeal (with Lord Justice Moylan giving the leading judgment) determined that the decision, which left the husband with the lion’s share of the illiquid and risky business assets and the wife with the vast majority of the liquid assets (including the former matrimonial home, valued at £7m), could not be sustained.

The court determined that the first instance Judge had erred in considering that Wells sharing “will be a last resort and should only comprise a minority element” of the award, stating that “there is no principle that Wells sharing is only to be included as part of an award as ‘a last resort’ nor, indeed, that it should only comprise a minority element”. The case represents an important development in the jurisprudence on ‘Wells sharing’.

The court determined that the award at first instance did not effect a fair balance of risk and illiquidity in the division of the assets between the parties, and ordered that it be varied such that the wife’s share of the business assets be increased from 30% to 50%, and the former matrimonial home be sold with the proceeds divided between the parties. This represented an uplift in liquid capital to the husband of approximately £2.7m and represented a significant improvement in his sharing of the marital assets.