Warring solicitors blow fortune on bitter divorce Mrs Kavanagh was awarded two thirds of the funds raised by the sale of Haldon Lodge, in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, and her husband a third by a judge in June 2008. But the proceeds of the multi-million pound sale were so depleted by the costs, to the tune of more than £1.4m, and other factors that Mrs Kavanagh received just £94,500 and her husband was left in debt. Today they were back in court arguing before top family judge, Lord Justice McFarlane, over the level of maintenance payments Mr Kavanagh was ordered to pay to his ex-wife. The judge, sitting at London's Civil Appeal Court, commented that Judge Million, who presided over the case both in the High Court's Family Division and at a County Court, had said of the couple: "They wrecked the ship then turned their attention to the lifeboats." By 2008 they had spent over £879,000 on legal costs and contested proceedings. Children Act proceedings had cost about £545,000. The financial proceedings cost over £303,000 and Family Law Act applications cost another £32,000. The disputes and costs have gone on," Judge Million had said in his County Court judgment delivered last December. Mrs Kavanagh's barrister, Jonathan Tod, told the Appeal Court: "This is a very sad case in which the parties have spent almost all their assets in litigation. Judge Million makes reference to sinking ships and doing the best he can to keep both parties and the children in the life boats. This court is asked to consider whether in fact one party has been given a financial lifeline and the other left holding to a mooring buoy waiting to be saved. He argued that the wife's yearly maintenance of £48,000 ought to be upped to between £66,000 and £80,000-a-year, telling the court that since 2008 Mr Kavanagh had received a pay increase to £485,000-a-year "over double the average annual wage of a man living in the South East of England." Insisting that Mrs Kavanagh deserves "compensation" as her career was put on hold during the marriage, the barrister added: "The wife gave up a promising future to give birth to and raise three children. Her career, but for marriage and raising children may well have been as successful as her husband's. "My client's reasonable needs have not been met," Mr Tod added. Lord Justice McFarlane said: "This is a case where tragically - and I do not think that word is an overstatement - the parties have been engaged in litigation about their finances and children for five or more years." Bemoaning the fact that the couple have spent "nearly £900,000 in legal costs," despite both being practising lawyers themselves, the judge added that "the impact of the debt of costs ... was a catastrophe for this family." Turning to the current bone of contention, he found in favour of the husband and refused to order him to pay any more by way of maintenance, citing his responsibly to pay the school fees for the couple's three children who are all being privately educated at a cost of £36,000-a-year "There is no prospect of an appeal succeeding were the matter to be given permission," the judge concluded, refusing Mrs Kavanagh's application. Both parties attended the hearing at London's Appeal Court, although Mr Kavanagh was not represented. Mrs Kavanagh declined to comment outside court afterwards.