enough, and appealed the sum through the UK legal process, declaring the assets of the couple in her legal papers as: £52.8 million in her husband's sole name £5.4 million in her sole name £2.1 million in their joint names £64.6 million in the Dragon Trust Mrs Charman also declared that a separate £25 million trust catered for the needs of their sons, and so therefore Dragon Trust was an asset under the control of Charman. On 2 August 2006, Mr Justice Coleridge decreed in the High Court of Justice that a fair settlement would involve Charman giving his wife around 37 per cent of his assets, which would involve not only agreeing transfer of assets worth £8 million already under his wife's control, but also an additional one-off lump sum of £40 million. In his written judgement, Mr Justice Coleridge said: "The husband is genuinely bemused that the wife should regard his £20 million offer as anything other than reasonable, even generous. Her refusal to compromise on his terms has led him to deploy every available point to protect what he regards as his wealth generated entirely by his efforts. In the narrow, old-fashioned sense, that perspective is understandable, if somewhat anachronistic. Nowadays it must attract little sympathy." Charman said: "This judgement is poor and blatantly discriminatory. By any reasonable standards this is an extraordinary decision. I made a fair and open offer to my wife of £20 million, which would be impossible for any reasonable person to spend in their lifetime." Charman later commented that he would be launching an immediate appeal, calling the High Court award "grotesque and unfair". In review, the amount of 37% was slightly less than the wife received in White v White, the House of Lords case in 2000. That case established the principle that for long marriages the courts should begin their deliberations on how to divide marital assets from the standpoint of a 50:50 split between husband and wife, regardless of who earned the money. Charman began selling shares in Axis on the NYSE to meet the interim legal arrangements, prior to his appeal. If required to complete full payment, then it is calculated that he will need to sell off his shares in Axis. Charman and his representatives, Withers, mounted a high-profile media campaign, arguing that White and subsequent decisions are discriminatory towards wealthy husbands. Charman and his legal team