A divorcee has been forced by a judge to pay half for her ex-husband’s trans surgery.

Quite. Putting his needs before any children.

I really want to know what 160K buys you in Trans surgery.

If you watch the 'Through the looking glass' film on youtube about ordinary families and read accounts from children and wives of transitioners, they commonly describe these fathers stop contributing to food/ clothes for their children as they want beauty treatments and new clothes/ wigs/ breast implants instead.

Absolutely scandalous and how devastating for his wife.

Imagine being such a total dick that even though you're that rich and have shat all over your marriage you still want to quibble over this, meanwhile happily splurging tens of thousands of pounds on tattoos and whatever else.

I've been walking around with holes in my trainers for more than a year because there is always something more important to spend the money on and guess what? It's always something for the kids. Because that's what parents do. Yet this prick can't pay maintenance?!

And this bit: 'The husband responded: “You marry a trans person. You live with a trans person. You benefit from a trans person. They are suicidal and you support them.” ' I highly fucking doubt his wife ever benefited from being with him, she's been stuck with a raging narcissist for decades and, yes, the trans issue has only reared it's ugly head in recent years but I'd bet good money that she dealt with a whole load of other shite from him while he was working up to it.

What an absolute arse wipe. This is abuse, and now it is being supported by the state. And the surgery won't even help, you can't fill the massive hole in the narcissist without a time machine to go back and fix whatever made them that way. So it really is lose lose. Absolutely horrendous.

This. Thank you for saving me having to suggest this. I hope she, or someone who knows her, catches this thread and the fund thinks this is a case-law case worth fighting.

So he's not paying for his children but she's got to pay for his plastic surgery?

I can’t even bring myself to read it. Hopefully there’s enough awareness of trans widows now that you can all fight this one for us.

Wonder if he'd get the same outcome in Scunthorpe.

Jarndyce v. Jarndyce springs to mind.

A friend of mine who’s a solicitor advised me not to go to court against a liar. Sometimes the bad guys win, he said. If she still stands to get a million and they’ve already wasted one million out of a possible three, it might well be time to stop. That said, it is genuinely outrageous. He’s survived this long without it so it obviously isn’t essential. Wonder if this is another judge wearing frilly knickers under his gown. Please tell me it wasn’t a woman that’s done this to another woman.

Been in brighton family court repeatedly as a litigant. I can assure you, the judges are no
more progressive or open minded than in London, I’d argue the opposite

Yes she can appeal and I would

Omg some of these judges need replacing

Jesus fucking christ.

As someone currently being treated for cancer I'd have ripped his fucking head off for this. How dare he equate his selfish demands to what I have absolutely no choice over.

'The husband, 58, had said that the argument was “like saying someone who had cancer should not have the surgery” during the hearing at Brighton Family Court.'

Sounds like a classic case of the lawyers rubbing their hands with glee and encouraging a fight. Assets of £3m and they spent £1m on legal fees. It’s a ridiculous ruling, but she would’ve been much better off not fighting this.

Wow! This man claimed "he could not afford to pay the court-ordered maintenance to his wife and children but splashed £14,000 on an Amex card in one month “mainly on clothing, nails, jewellery and restaurants”, got £13,000 worth of tattoos in six months and racked up a £1,000 Milan restaurant bill". And she gets to pay for his essential neo vagina as well. Poor woman.

How can we support this woman and her children and who do we complain to? This cannot stand.

Whether it was incurred before the divorce or not, this expense is not necessary.
IANAL but I thought you couldn't be liable for your spouse's debts?
Grovelling apologies because I can't be arsed to read the article, but is the judge saying that the wife had no say in it, might have opposed it but she's got to pay half anyway? I can't see how that can be right. The money married couples earn is joint money (I'm told) but I can't believe you don't have to agree how it's spent.
Can someone explain the legal reasoning?

This makes me so angry, it's an absolute travesty. I would hope this is the sort of thing that JKR's fighting fund would help with if necessary.

I'm finding this difficult to understand. Are they in the UK? People don't usually have medical bills/costs so how can it be normal for them to be funded jointly? If it was a need, wouldn't be on the NHS? What did the husband's GP say? Very confusing.

If the surgery was genuinely necessary then it would be provided to him for free, on the NHS, neither of them should have to pay, if it is a genuine necessity.

Please god let the wife appeal this abomin3of the law.

This falls into the 'You Couldn't Make It Up' category, and I expected it to be a dubious story from some gossip rag in the US.
Silly me. It was Brighton, and not even Brighton, Michigan🙄

I take the point that whether the expense was incurred before or after the divorce is significant, and might explain the decision, though it would also depend on the diagnosis of gender dysphoria which the judge thinks made it necessary surgery and not a whim.

Late onset gender dysphoria.. very late onset gender dysphoria, at age 58😒

I hope this is revisited - though the law being an ass, there might be no way around it legally, despite appearing obviously unfair to non-legal observers.

That would piss me right off. I'm thrilled I don't live near Brighton anymore, it was a whole city full of morons like this. The most unpleasant place I've ever lived in.

Is this surgery a castration? I think some soon to be ex wives might find consolation in that. Interesting precedent to set however, that funding surgery for psychological reasons is a 'need'.