Divorce settled - after 30 years

A woman accused by her ex- husband of bringing "nothing into the marriage except twelve packets of crisps and four pounds one shilling and sixpence" was yesterday told she was entitled to a share of the pounds 250,000 house where they lived - nearly 30 years after they divorced.

Lord Woolf, the Master of the Rolls, Lord Justice Ward, and Lord Justice Millett were told in the Court of Appeal that all Patricia Hill received in settlement after the divorce in 1969 was a maintenance order for their two sons, pounds 75 in cash and a second-hand Mini.

The judges decided that she could make claims for a lump sum payment and share of the house after hearing that the couple had cohabited for 25 years after the divorce, before finally splitting when John Hill went off with her best friend.

Mr Hill, was refused leave to appeal to the House of Lords.

Mrs Hill agreed with her former husband that she did not bring much money into the marriage but said she also had "a packet of Ritz biscuits and half a pound of margarine"..