What is the effect of a long-term partner’s claim for equal division of the matrimonial home?

The claimant referred to Lane v. Lane, [1997] BCJ NO. 1369, a judgment of Mr. Justice Pitfield. In that case, after a 31 year marriage, the parties separated, but the trial was not held until 12 years later. The husband was then 76 and the wife was 68. Six years after separation, the wife had inherited over one million dollars, and that sum had increased through investments to about 2.2 million by the time of trial. The husband conceded that his wife’s inheritance was not a family asset, but argued that her inheritance was a fact which favoured an unequal division of the former matrimonial home in his favour. Pitfield J. discussed this issue at paras. 45 to 53. He concluded that, the wife’s inheritance should not be taken into account in deciding whether equal division of the family assets would be unfair to the husband. Pitfield J. reasoned that to give effect to the husband’s argument would be indirectly allowing the husband to share in the wife’s inheritances.