The wife who's paying the price of equality: Jane's found that it's not just men who get hit with huge divorce payouts when their other half walks out

JANE PEARSON: There were no rows, no infidelity, no rancour - not even the slightest hint that our eight-year, happy marriage was foundering.

I'd thought we were compatible, content; so blissfully at ease in each other's company that we were certain to grow old together. 

So on the summer night almost two years ago, when my husband Steve told me he was leaving me, I was totally shocked. 

It was as if my steadfast, calm and dependable husband had gone out and been replaced by an evil twin. 

A mere three months later I was in for another nasty surprise when Steve demanded a settlement of £300,000 - a sum the courts have since decreed I must pay him. 

This, despite the fact he did not support me during our marriage and lived rent-free in my home, from where he ran his businesses.