Multimillionaire can keep his fortune under wraps

Lisa Tchenguiz, the wife of Vivian Imerman, has been refused permission by the law courts to use documents obtained secretly to support her divorce settlement demands. This is the latest in a long line of controversial divorce cases ending up in the courts although this one could have repercussions for many people in the future.

It was the provision to use secret documents to confirm the true wealth of a partner which was the issue at stake in the recent court case. While the case has been labelled as a setback for women in the UK looking to divorce their wealthy partners, there are also cases where the roles are reversed. With the introduction of new technology, international trade, tax havens and other financial vehicles it has on the whole become very difficult to classify a person's true wealth if they wish to keep it secret.

These are not the illegal means of protecting the value of your assets, but they can be very difficult to track in the event of for example a divorce. The provision of prenuptial agreements is also another factor which has come under scrutiny over the last few months with more and more of these agreements deemed to be null and void due to a variety of reasons.