Ex-INXS Manager Wins £27.6M Gift Battle

A businesswoman and former manager for the rock band INXS, Maria-Christina Copinger-Symes, has secured a significant victory in a legal dispute involving her ex-husband and mother. The case centered on a secret £27.6 million gift her mother made to her ex-husband, SAS Major James Copinger-Symes, following their divorce in 2022.

Initially, a Family Court ruling in August 2024 overturned the divorce financial order. This was because the judge found that the pre-planned cash gift amounted to material non-disclosure by the ex-husband. This decision aimed to allow Ms. Copinger-Symes to claim a portion of the substantial sum.

However, her mother and ex-husband appealed this decision. They argued the gift was non-matrimonial and would not have been made if Ms. Copinger-Symes could benefit. In a recent Court of Appeal ruling, three senior judges dismissed both appeals. This dismissal paves the way for Ms. Copinger-Symes to pursue her claim to a share of the significant family cash gift.

The Court of Appeal found that the non-disclosure of the expected gift presented a distorted financial picture. This materially affected the initial divorce settlement. The judges confirmed that the gifts were outright to the husband and that any belief the mother might have had about the wife not benefiting was not causative of the gift itself.