Scraping by on A$278,000 a month? It's Australia's costliest divorce

A $5700 bill for balloons and flowers was one of the claims put forward in what is believed to be Australia's most expensive divorce.

CANBERRA - Life can be tough when a marriage collapses, especially when you have to cough up more than A$4600 ($5700) for balloons and flowers for your "little prince's" 14th birthday party.

Or when your A$500,000 car just isn't enough, and you have to spend A$97,000 for a second vehicle.

And how can anyone be expected to scrape by on anything less than A$278,000 a month, even if you have already taken A$16 million from the marital cash pool?

These are some of the claims put forward in what is believed to be Australia's most expensive divorce, involving a man with an estimated fortune of between A$77 million and A$110 million and a former wife who has custody of their teenage son.

The case, reported in the Australian, went before the Family Court to argue the former wife's claim for spousal maintenance of A$278,000 in advance of the final settlement, backdated to 2005. The woman has also claimed a A$24 million property settlement, including a A$3.3 million chalet in Switzerland and A$1.2 million a year to pay for carers for their son, who the former wife claims is autistic.

Three of his four present carers are the former wife's siblings, each on an annual salary of A$110,000, the Australian reported.

The boy's father, who now lives in Hong Kong with his new wife on a declared annual income of A$300,000, has been fighting to see his son since 2007.

The Australian said the Family Court had tried to arrange meetings, but the former wife had failed to deliver the boy on the grounds that he became extremely anxious when told he must see his father.

The father is contesting his former wife's claims, with 28 hearings so far.

In earlier hearings the court was told that the boy had become "very much the little prince" where paid helpers worked to fit around him and where, a child psychologist said, the boy operated in a comfort zone in which he mostly got his own way.

The father had recently paid A$691,000 into a trust fund to cover his son's bills, and proposed paying A$10,788 a week for his care.

The wife claims she needs more, and said that most of the A$16 million already taken had been swallowed by lawyers' fees and living costs of A$6284 a week, including A$2300 for holidays and A$800 for clothes.

The court rejected the wife's claim for an interim property settlement and the claim for spousal maintenance of A$278,000 a week, but granted her a lump sum of A$375,000 pending a full hearing.