Evidence from a team of forensic accountants has increased Alice Evans’ financial support payments in her bitter legal battle with her ex-husband, Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd.

Despite finding that Evans had subjected Gruffudd and his new wife Bianca to years of harassment and domestic abuse, a California judge has now largely backed her on financial matters in this new ruling.

The couple separated in January 2021, but the split was anything but amicable, with Gruffudd obtaining a three-year domestic violence restraining order against Evans in August 2022.

He alleged that she had made derogatory social media posts about him and his girlfriend, now wife, Bianca Wallace, as well as leaving him hundreds of abusive messages.

This restraining order was extended in early August of this year by Judge Michael J Convey, who said: “First and foremost, (Alice) committed domestic violence upon Ioan and his wife, Bianca”.

Despite this, based on the evaluation of extensive evidence submitted by forensic accountants, Judge Convey ruled that Gruffudd must increase his overall financial support obligations, awarding his ex-wife 10 per cent of his gross income, amounting to around $1,862 a month, as maintenance.

Gruffudd had argued that he had overpaid Evans by approximately $400,000, but after considering evidence from forensic accountants, the court found the overpayment amounted to only about $27,000.

The Judge also determined that $168,000 held in a Coutts savings account belonged to Evans personally, rather than being held as a joint asset, following analysis of the key details regarding the account by the forensic accountants.

Commenting on the case, Roger Isaacs, Forensic Partner at Milsted Langdon, said: “This is a high-profile US case, involving substantial sums, but the lessons from this can equally be applied to many other matrimonial disputes worldwide.

“Beyond the initial financial remedy order applied following a divorce, it isn’t uncommon for couples to request the support of forensic accountants when assessing or reviewing ongoing maintenance payments.

“Even where full disclosure has occurred during a financial settlement, variation orders allow spouses, on both sides, to alter the payments made to the other party.

“However, unlike the US, the UK has more specific rules in relation to how and when an existing order can be changed, but even in these cases, the support of a forensic accountant can prove useful when evidencing the reasons for a request to either increase or reduce maintenance.”