Divorce banker keeps most of £80m he gave to wife to avoid tax

A RETIRED banker who gave his wife nearly £80million to avoid paying inheritance tax will not have to split that money with her equally following a divorce, the Supreme Court has ruled.

- By Danny Halpin

Five justices unanimously agreed that because most of the cash had been earned prior to the marriage, Clive Standish, 72, was entitled to keep the largest share.

UBS’s ex-chief financial officer had trans-ferred the assets in 2017 to his Australian wife Anna, 57, to take advantage of her non-dom status and allow more money to benefit their two children.

Mr Standish, being domiciled in the UK, was worried about paying around £32m in inheritance tax if he died with the assets in his name, Lords Burrows and Stephens said in their ruling.

They said: "In short, there was no matrimonialisation of the 2017 assets because, first, the transfer was to save tax, and, secondly, it was for the benefit of the children, not the wife.