As Lord Nicholls observed, “Divorce creates many problems”. Not least of these is determining the basis on which property should be divided between divorcing spouses, a problem with which the House of Lords had to grapple for the first time in White v. White [2000] 3 W.L.R. 1571. The case required consideration of the principles which should guide exercise of the discretion under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 to make capital awards, in particular in so-called “big money” cases. But the decision invites discussion of issues extending beyond the concerns of the super-rich.