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Stealing Documents in Divorce Cases Ruled Illegal in Ground-Breaking Judgement

The landmark decision removes protection given to people in divorce proceedings whereby a husband or wife was previously been able to place before the court evidence that their spouse was hiding money and other assets.

The divorce case in question was that of millionaire Vivian Imerman, dubbed the “Man from Del Monte”, whose wife Lisa and her brothers, themselves property tycoons, Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz, took thousands of private documents detailing his wealth from a computer hard drive; the court, however, ruled that this evidence was inadmissible and in the process reversed the principle.

Today that order was confirmed by the Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger, sitting with Lord Justices Moses and Munby.

They decided that the “Hildebrand rules” — a long-standing principle that divorcing couples can secretly obtain, copy and use stolen private documents — have “no legal basis”. They ruled: “Nothing in the so-called Hildebrand rules can be relied upon in justification or provide a defence to conduct which would otherwise be criminal or actionable.”

Historically, many wives (or indeed husbands) have depended on the Hildebrand rules to prove their husbands' real worth which they kept hidden to avoid paying a larger settlement.

Lawyers at Pearson Hinchliffe Solicitors LLP have warned the "ground-breaking" ruling may lead to an increase in accusations and court actions in divorces where spouses suspect each other of hiding assets.

They added that the implication of the judgement is that in future an attempt by one side in a divorce case to purloin without permission the documents of the other side could result in heavy costs orders or criminal proceedings, thus, revolutionising rules governing the disclosure of documents in family law cases.