Island based millionaire wins appeal

An Isle of Man based American millionaire has won his bid to enforce a modified Florida post-nuptial agreement.

It limits his wife’s share of their £13.8 million fortune to about £2 million.

Sixty-four year-old Roderick MacLeod and Maria Renee Kalb MacLeod had both appealed to the United Kingdom Privy Council, the highest court for former UK territories.

The council declined to rule on the validity of the couple’s pre-nup, saying the issue was more "appropriate to legislative rather than judicial development."

Pauline Fowler, who represented the husband in the case, said the decision leaves UK judges with the discretion to enforce pre-nuptial agreements when they see fit depending on the circumstances of each divorce.

MacLeod initially offered his wife about £1 million, indexed to inflation, then increased that by putting about £1.25 million in a trust fund for their five sons.

The Isle of Man courts ruled Maria MacLeod should receive the extra money in a lump sum.

But the Privy Council overturned that decision, ruling that there were no circumstances to justify changing the couple’s post-nuptial agreement.