The background
5.The parties are in their late 30s. They are both Pakistani citizens. They met in Dubai, married in 2014 and thereafter lived in the Middle East. H worked in banking. W is from a wealthy family, and worked in the family business. They have a daughter. In late 2021, they moved to England when H obtained employment in London. Their flat in Dubai was rented out. The rental income was paid into a joint account in Dubai, from which W would then transfer the monies into an account in her sole name so as to meet family expenses. All of this took place with H’s knowledge. 6.To assist in the move to London, W secured an Investor Visa, supported by £2m deposited in an investment portfolio, the value of which has reduced to circa £1.75m due to market downturn, rather than as a result of any disposal of underlying assets. The family moved into expensive rented accommodation.7.H, so it seems from his own witness evidence, was reasonably well informed during the marriage about W’s wealth, not least because of joint visa applications made in multiple jurisdictions. W does not seem to have been secretive about her financial circumstances which were shared openly with H. In his first witness statement, H estimated W’s wealth at about $15m, held in the UK and overseas, identifying specific properties, companies in which W has an interest, and financial instruments. Pursuant to my direction, W set out her wealth in correspondence which she puts at about £5m; a further £2m of assets held under legal title in her name is, so she asserts, beneficially owned by her father. It is not in dispute that her wealth results from gifts made to her by her family; it seems likely to me that the bulk of her assets will be treated by the court as non-marital in the substantive financial remedy proceedings. In contrast with W’s wealth, H’s total assets appear to be under £10,000. 8.In March and April 2022, W withdrew, via 4 separate transfers, £32,000 from a joint HSBC account into her sole account. H was fully aware of the withdrawals which W informed him were to enable her to meet family expenses. This was not the first time W had accessed the joint account in this way; she had done so previously without demur from H. H says in his witness evidence that “At the time I had no issue with it”.9.In September 2022, W told H that she wished to separate. She invited H to issue a divorce petition; I am told she anticipated this would take place in Pakistan. H did indeed issue a petition, albeit in England rather than Pakistan, on 14 September 2022, followed by a Form A on 27 September 2022. W moved out of the jointly rented property with the parties’ daughter, into a property, which has been owned by her mother since 2010 but is in the process of being transferred into W’s name by way of gift. At about the same time, W sent to H a draft separation agreement which provided that neither would pursue a financial claim against the other, albeit the document was prepared by reference to Sharia law at a time when W was contemplating resisting the jurisdiction of the English court. She has since confirmed that she accepts the jurisdiction of this court.