Posted on 9 February 2011
Disabled man wins appeal in fight to recover money from ex-wife
Posted in Legal news
A man who lost a leg when he was hit by a car almost 20 years ago, has won the right to appeal against a court’s ruling to give his ex-wife more than half of the compensation he received.
Kevin Mansfield received £500,000 damages in 1998 as a result of the accident and married his former partner, Catherine in 2003. They split up five years later and a judge ruled that the damages he received should be “put in the pot” and divided as an asset of the marriage. Catherine was awarded £285,000 of the money but at the Civil Appeals Court in London, Mr Mansfield was granted an appeal.
His counsel told the court that he has already been forced to sell his car and would face the prospect of moving from his specially adapted home if the decision was not overturned. His barrister told court that Mr Mansfield had suffered a “manifest injustice” in that his only resources had come from the damages award. Lady Justice Black, in allowing the appeal, said that Mr Mansfield’s disabilities were an important factor in the case which “raises an important point of principle”.
The appeal will now be heard before three judges at a date yet to be set, though the judge urged the couple to try and resolve their differences in the meantime to try and avoid “potentially enormous legal costs”.