A woman awarded the biggest divorce payment in British legal history was today told that she is entitled to keep the £48 million settlement that her insurance chief husband labelled "grotesque and unfair".

John Charman, 54, took the case to the Court of Appeal after contesting his wife Beverley’s share in his fortune. The head of the Axis insurance group argued that his £20 million offer was more than adequate and a £70 million family trust should not have been taken into account when the total assets of the marriage were assessed at £131 million.

He is now planning to appeal against the decision, and the payment of the money has been suspended pending a result of any appeal to the Lords.

Mr Charman said that his massive contribution to the family fortune - neither of the partners started with any wealth - meant he should receive a larger slice of the assets. He described his 53-year-old former partner, who he divorced in 2005, as “a housewife”.

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In a statement Mr Charman, who was not in court, said: “I intend to appeal against this decision which I genuinely believe is wrong.”

The Charmans married in 1976 and had two children, both now adults. During the 27-year marriage, Mr Charman built his fortune in the insurance market in the City of London.

In early 2003 Mr Charman moved to Bermuda and separated from his wife, who still lives in England at the former matrimonial home in Sevenoaks, Kent.

He was refused permission to take his case to the House of Lords for a final appeal at the highest court in the land, but can apply to the Law Lords directly.

Mr Charman went on: “English family law is in a mess. It is muddled, incomprehensible and lags behind that in most other countries. It allows judges to make decisions on a variety of criteria, to the detriment of everyone involved, apart from those making claims against high net worth individuals and their lawyers, who are getting rich by capitalising on the uncertainties which prevail.

“With every big money case which comes before the courts at the moment different rules seem to be applied, depending on the judges involved. It’s now all something of a lottery and has little to do with fairness or justice. Until the law changes those that follow after me will suffer similarly.”

Beverley Charman's lawyers had argued that the House of Lords had laid down guidelines in previous divorce rulings in big-money cases that family assets should generally be divided equally between the breadwinner and the homemaker.

Lawyers for Mr Charman told the appeal judges - Sir Mark Potter, the President of the Family Division, Lord Justice Thorpe and Lord Justice Wilson - that the High Court judge was wrong in the way he divided the assets of the marriage last year. They said the judge should have worked out his and her needs and then given most of the surplus to Mr Charman because he created the wealth by becoming one of the leading figures in the insurance industry.

In making their judgement the court called for a far reaching review and reform of the law in this area in England and Wales.

Today, Mrs Charman said that she accepted the amount of money awarded to her was “huge by any standards” but she felt that it “fairly reflects the contributions made by John and me during our twenty eight year marriage”.

She added: “The breakdown of our marriage has been a painful experience for all concerned. Our divorce proceedings started nearly three years ago.

“It has been a difficult time, not just for me but for our family. I have been particularly concerned for our sons who have had to bear the discussion in public of our lives, our marriage and our divorce.

“I am relieved that the appeal is over and I hope that John and I can now concentrate on building our new lives.”

Helen Ward, who represented Mrs Charman, said: “This is a significant judgment and brings welcome clarity to a number of important aspects of the law relating to the distribution of assets on divorce.

“The Solicitors profession will positively embrace the Court’s suggestion for a broad review and reform in this area to create modern law reflecting today’s modern society.

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