The New York Daily News is reporting that the ex-wife of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev has been awarded $4.8 billion, in what is being called the largest divorce award in history. 47 year-old Elena Rybolovlev was given the ruling by a Swiss court, in a settlement that will see her take more than half of Rybolovlev's estimated $8.8 billion fortune. Additionally, reports indicate that Elena may attempt to use the ruling in order to take control of her ex-husband's $88 million apartment in Central Park West. Elena was also awarded custody of the couple's 13 year old daughter Anna.
According to published reports Elena filed to divorce Rybolovlev five years ago as a result of numerous instances of infidelity. After the filing Elena reportedly tried to have Rybolovlev's bank accounts frozen, and he in turn went on a lavish spending spree, spending hundreds of millions of dollars on real estate, and even buying a share of a French soccer league team. Elena is said to have initiated court proceedings in New York, Hawaii, and Florida in order to prevent Rybolovlev from transferring assets during the divorce proceedings.
Rybolovlev's lawyer says that the judgment will definitely be appealed, and should not be considered final.
In divorce cases, often times the best strategy for getting the client what they want and deserve comes about through effective negotiations. Through negotiations divorce settlements are achieved under the parties' control. A client usually knows what assets exist and what their needs are. Divorce judges only get small glimpses of the lives of divorcing couples. As such, when a judge makes the final decision in divorce case sometimes both parties end up dissatisfied. However, there are cases where because of the stubbornness and/or greed of one of the parties, the best efforts to negotiate a fair divorce settlement fail. That is when the experienced divorce lawyer must bring all of his or her trial skills to bare on behalf of their client.
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