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A divorcing wife who made legal history when she was awarded a £250,000-a-year payout from her husband has won a 40 per cent increase in her maintenance payments.

Julia McFarlane, 49, who separated from her husband Kenneth in 2000, will receive £350,000 a year even her needs have been put at £150,000.

The new High Court ruling means that she will share in her former husband’s increased income, which has risen from £750,000 at the time of the divorce award to £1.1 million after tax. The award will be reviewed in 2015 when he plans to retire aged 55.

Mrs McFarlane won £250,000 annual maintenance in the House of Lords in 2006, as well as about £3 million in capital for her contribution to her husband’s career — as a wife and mother of their three children.

A City solicitor who had worked with Freshfields, she had given up her career to look after the children. The settlement partly compensated her for lost opportunities while her husband pursued a successful career as an accountant with Deloitte.

She returned to court earlier this year, initially for increased maintenance for the children, but then also to increase her own payments.

Frenkels Chartered Accountants are able to assist with all forensic accountancy matters relating to divorce investigations and matrimonial matters.