Divorcee in property test case

A housewife is battling to keep the proceeds of a house she was awarded in a divorce settlement following landmark court hearings.

Mrs Wendy Haines, aged 42, who owned a garage business with her husband David Haines on the Hoo Farm Industrial Estate, in Kidderminster, went through a divorce two years ago. She was awarded the detached five-bed farmhouse near Stourport-on-Severn by a judge but her husband then declared himself bankrupt.

Under the law, his bankruptcy trustees have sought to gain half the funds of the house to help pay creditors.

Mrs Haines has been in a battle to retain the money from the property, which has been sold and the proceeds frozen. Mr Haines’s trustees contested the order but the decision was upheld by District Judge Cooke.

The trustees have now appealed and Wendy said today: “I will have to continue fighting.

“It is a case which could affect many women in a similar situation.”