Ayesha Vardag, also called “Diva of Divorce”, is a London divorce lawyer of superlatives. It owes its notoriety to a case that made judicial history in England by changing the British divorce law. A German marriage contract thereby changed the British jurisdiction.
What is it about?
In 2010, Vardag represented the German multimillionaire Katrin Radmacher, heiress of a Westphalian paper mill, against her husband, the Frenchman Nicolas Granatino. The latter demanded half of the assets, although there was a marriage contract concluded in Germany. In this was regulated that neither of the two may claim something of the property of the other in the case of a separation. Granatino demanded a whole 6.8 million pounds from his ex-wife. His reasoning: he wouldn’t have understood the prenuptial agreement signed in Germany because of the language barrier. In addition, he had not been aware of his wife’s assets. Verdag did not find this statement credible. Since the couple was seeking a divorce in England due to their place of residence, the defense was not going to be an easy task. Divorce was frowned upon in the UK even after the turn of the millennium. While a marriage contract is recognized and possible in Germany, British judges did not accept it.