The record-breaking divorce case involving Amazon founder Jeff Bezos raises questions around marital law in countries besides the US. Here are some comments.

The scale of the divorce case and issues arising from it have prompted lawyers from the UK to comment on the marital situation of the world's richest entrepreneur.

When Amazon founder and space-faring entrepreneur Jeff Bezos divorced, he paid over a record-breaking divorce sum of eat least $35 billion, still leaving him on more than $100 billion (based on Forbes Rich List figures) and ahead of Microsoft's Bill Gates. The settlement means Ms Bezos retains a 4 per cent stake in the online retail firm. Bezos had created the firm in 1994, a year after the coupled married.

The sheer scale of the divorce payment, coupled with Bezos' prominent role in US life - he owns the Washington Post (much to the ire of US President Donald Tump) - meant that this case was always going to draw considerable interest and commentary. In the end, the case seems to have been settled relatively amicably, with both parties sending out messages of mutual support and respect. Even so, there are issues arising from the case that will interest private client advisors.

Here are comments from some UK-based legal specialists dealing with such cases.

Toby Yerburgh, partner and head of family [law] at Collyer Bristow.

Not since the “conscious uncoupling” statement of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin have a high profile couple released such a positive and upbeat statement announcing their divorce as the one released by Jeff Bezos and his wife. Such agreed statements often form part of the negotiations over a financial split and come attached to an NDA. They demonstrate the importance of high profile divorcing couples’ lawyers working hand in glove with their PR agents.

Fraser Wright, senior partner at litigation funder Quanta Capital.
While it is generally accepted that the higher the net worth of one or both of divorcing spouses, the more litigious and drawn out the divorce proceedings are likely to be, this was surprisingly not the case in the Bezos separation. Both parties in this case were both involved in the very early days of Amazon, so it would have been very difficult for either side to argue that the other was not entitled to a significant settlement.

Despite the uniqueness of this case, it doesn’t mean that more divorcing couples can achieve a fair and quick settlement. This can be easier to achieve if the parties seek legal and financial advise at the very start of the process. This can be crucial in keeping costs in order and having a realistic expectation of settlement, it can also aid what is usually a stressful and emotive time.

For the financially dominant party it is likely that they will instruct the best lawyers they can afford to protect their wealth and interests. So where does this leave the financially dependent party? Legal Aid has all but disappeared from Private Family Law since the reforms of 2012 and lawyers offering deferred fee arrangements or “Sears Tooth” agreements has become increasingly rare as they no longer have the cashflow to support such arrangements.

The newest and increasingly common option for the financially dependent spouse is a “Divorce Loan” or a “Matrimonial Finance” Loan. These are loans from specialist providers solely intended for covering legal fees and disbursements in divorce proceedings. They generally offer a facility that is sufficient to cover the fees until settlement is achieved, the most popular products available on the market offer the total amount over an agreed draw down schedule, with interest only being charged on the drawn down amounts. The loan is typically only repaid at the end of the financial proceedings when the settlement amount has been awarded.

The benefits to these clients is immediately apparent but the key benefit is being able to instruct a suitably qualified and reputable law firm that will create symmetry in the proceedings and could, as in the case of Bezos achieve a quick and fair settlement without making proceedings unnecessarily contentious and prolonged.

Combined with the upcoming UK “No Fault Divorce” reforms there could be a real possibility that the divorce process could be actually be less acrimonious and remove a lot of the stress and frustrations that can lead to a more aggressive approach to litigation.

Independent financial advisors are very well placed to provide guidance on this type of facility as it can be done very early on in the divorce process and should be done in tandem with the initial discussions with lawyers to ensure legal fees do not start to mount up before affordability has been discussed.