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Heather Mills to get 25m pounds in divorce from Paul McCartney
Verdict brings end to one of the most costly and acrimonious divorce battles in British history.
- By Robert Mendick, Evening Standard
- Published: 21:45 March 14, 2008
London: Heather Mills is set to receive close to £25m in her divorce from Sir Paul McCartney. Details of the settlement - roughly £6m for every year Mills was married to the ex-Beatle - are contained in a preliminary High Court judgment sent to the estranged couple and their legal advisers this week.
The official verdict will be handed down on Monday bringing an end to one of the most costly and acrimonious divorce battles in British history. Legal bills alone could be as high as £10m.
Judge Justice Bennett sent each team of lawyers his preliminary judgment this week. A source closely connected to the case has told the Evening Standard that Mills will receive a lump sum of "around £25m".
It is not clear whether that sum includes provision for the couple's daughter Beatrice, who was born in 2003. Mills, 40, a former glamour model, and McCartney, 65, married in June 2002 but announced their separation less than four years later.
The huge sum - one of the largest for a British divorce - is less than some reports had speculated. But it still represents a generous settlement for such a short marriage.
Both parties are expected to be pleased with the outcome. McCartney will be relieved he is not giving away more of his money while Mills will walk away from the High Court on Monday as one of the wealthiest women in Britain.
It will be very difficult for her to appeal against the case - which would allow further details of the marriage to be aired in public - without bolstering her image as a "gold-digger", a label she has vehemently objected to.
According to the source, McCartney's claim that he is not nearly as wealthy as has been previously estimated has been accepted by Bennett. Rich lists have put his fortune at £825 million and Mills believed it to be even higher.
But the judge appears to have agreed to evidence given by a series of accountants that McCartney is worth much less.
The source said: "It is always a problem in divorce cases proving what the husband is actually worth. In this case it was impossible for Mills to prove otherwise."
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