Lawyer loses latest round of divorce court cash fight

A lawyer who complained he had been ordered to hand more than half his disposable income to his estranged wife has lost the latest round of a divorce court fight.

The man said an order made by Judge Mark Everall at a hearing in the Central Family Court in London left his estranged wife with more than £39,000 out of about £78,000.

But a more senior judge has dismissed an appeal.

Mrs Justice Roberts, who published a ruling after analysing the case at a hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London, said Judge Everall had not made a "wrong" order.

She said the couple - who are in their 40s, have three children and used to share a home in Kent - could not identified.

The couple are both qualified lawyers - he specialised in commercial and property law, and she specialised in employment and discrimination law - but the woman has not worked since their first child was born more than a decade ago.

Judge Everall had ordered the man to make "periodical payments" to cover living costs for his wife and children plus school fees.

Judge Everall and Mrs Justice Roberts concluded that the woman's "foothold in the employment market" was "weaker" than her husband's.