The ex-wife of a multi-millionaire who was stripped of her “meal ticket for life” when a court fight backfired has failed in a last-ditch attempt to have the ruling overturned.
Kim Waggott, 49, was awarded a £9.76 million settlement and £175,000 in annual maintenance payments from ex-husband William after he cheated on her twice. Unhappy with the deal, she went back to court to fight for £23,000 extra a year — for the rest of her life.
But Mr Waggott, 55, the finance director of TUI travel, successfully fought the application, and a judge ruled that the annual payments should stop in three years’ time to give him a “clean break”.
Mrs Waggott, the former financial controller of UCI cinemas, wanted to appeal to the Supreme Court over the decision but on Friday judges refused to grant permission for the case to be heard “because the application does not raise an arguable point of law”.
The former couple had lived together since 1991 and married in 2000, living with their child at a £4.3 million home in Great Missenden, Bucks. They split in 2012 after Mrs Waggott learned of her husband’s infidelity.
The Court of Appeal heard this year that she had used part of the divorce payout for a new £2 million house in Chester and a holiday home in Spain.
Nigel Dyer QC, for Mr Waggott, argued for the annual payments to be stopped, saying: “It is unfair to expect the husband to continue working long hours in demanding employment and not expect the wife to realise her earning potential as soon as is reasonably practicable.”
Lord Justice Moylan rejected Mrs Waggott’s bid for more money from her ex-partner, and instead said that she could invest some of her money to live comfortably off the interest.
“The expression ‘meal ticket for life’ can be used as an unfair trope,” he said. “I of course acknowledge that long-term maintenance can be required as part of a fair outcome. But it is plain to me that the wife would be able to adjust, without undue hardship, to the termination of maintenance.”
Mrs Waggott’s yearly payments are due to stop on March 1, 2021.
