Car
manufacturers showcase their marquee brands as status symbols meaning loss of a
status car can aggravate hurt feelings in a long running relationship property
dispute.
The seventeen year marriage of Mark and Melanie
Clayton came to an end in 2006. Her
$28.8 million claim to a share of her former husband’s timber milling business
is working its way through the courts supplemented by repeated arguments about
payments of interim maintenance pending resolution of their relationship
property dispute.
In the High Court at Rotorua, Justice Courtney
was asked to rule on the adequacy of existing maintenance. In June 2014, Mr Clayton was ordered to pay
his former wife $15,000 per month and to provide her with a late-model vehicle
suitable to her needs. She retained use
of the family Mercedes SUV. Mr Clayton
met maintenance and running costs on the vehicle until it was written off in an
accident one Christmas. The court was
told Melanie Clayton had been very unhappy with substitute vehicles provided;
first a manual Kia Rio which broke down and then a 2008 Hyundai Sonata. She pointed out that Mr Clayton has continued
to drive a new Audi since their separation, updating it regularly. She asked for a lump sum payment to buy a
replacement vehicle. Justice Courtney
said the reasonable needs of a spouse seeking maintenance are to be measured
against the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage and not read down to
the bare necessities of life. Her Honour
said Melanie Clayton was aware that during the marriage her vehicle costs
were met from business sources. That
could not continue and Mr Clayton was not in a position to pay for a late model
car from his personal income, Her Honour said.
A prior Family Court ruling stood: the vehicle provided met her needs,
if not her aspirations.
Justice Courtney made adjustments to periodic
maintenance payable. Evidence was given
that Melanie Clayton had incurred fees totalling $855,000 for legal and
accounting services since separation.
The court was told she works as a legal secretary earning $46,000 a year. The family home in Rotorua valued at $850,000
was transferred to Melanie Clayton in 2010 as an interim relationship property
settlement.
Clayton
v. Clayton – High Court (20.4.15)
15.032