The estranged wife of a City financier is suing for a share in her former husband's £690 million family fortune in a case which could set a legal precedent for divorcees, it was reported today.

Zoe Rowland, 30, is understood to have instructed two of Britain's leading marital lawyers to mount the landmark challenge following the breakdown of her four-year marriage to Jonathan Rowland.

He is the 29-year-old heir to David Rowland, 58, a City financier who is listed as the 53rd richest man in Britain. It is understood that Mrs Rowland intends to claim to a share of his future inheritance.

The couple separated in 2003 and Mrs Rowland, who is an account director at Lime Communications, is said to have retained the services of Nicholas Mostyn QC, who last year secured a share of former Arsenal footballer Ray Parlour's future earnings for his former wife.

She is also reported to have engaged Kay Georgiou, the solicitor who won a record £10 million settlement for Zeta Greiff, the former wife of Francois Greiff, the heir to a diamond fortune.

The case, which will be heard privately in the family court, is expected to start next month with the final hearing in November.

A source close to the family told London's Evening Standard newspaper that Zoe Rowland had begun looking to the family's fortune after consultations with Mr Mostyn.

"She was close to settling out of court but after meeting Mr Mostyn decided to seek part of the likely inheritance as well," the source said.

David Rowland, who now lives in retirement with his wife Sheila in Guernsey, is the son of a scrap dealer who built up his fortune from property and investments, making his first £1 million aged 23.

His son, who works for him investing in venture capital projects, made his name in 2000 with the sale of the internet investment company JellyWorks for £65m at the height of the dot-com boom.

Father and son are said to be fiercely contesting the claim.

None of the parties has agreed to comment on the reported action. A spokeswoman for Mr Mostyn's chambers One, Hare Court, in Temple, London, said she was unable to comment.

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