Decision day in McCartney divorce

Mar 17 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

WARRING couple Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills will be forced to make a decision together today – how much, if any, of their divorce agreement is made public.

They spent six days in court last month in an acrimonious battle to decide the slice Miss Mills should have of the former Beatle’s fortune after four years of marriage.

Today Mr Justice Bennett will deliver the details of his decision in private at the High Court in London on Monday, but will then take instructions from the parties over releasing any of the details.

The judge is believed to be trying to end the speculation over how much Sir Paul must find from his reputed £825m assets to bring his marriage to an end.

Some lawyers have claimed it could be the biggest contested divorce settlement in British legal history with a final payout of around £60m.

More conservative estimates put the figure at around £10m because of the short duration of the marriage and the fact that most of Sir Paul’s wealth was established decades before the couple met.

Even if one or both of the McCartneys decide to keep the divorce judgment a secret, the whole matter could come into the open if either side is unhappy with the ruling and decides to go to the Court of Appeal.

Appeal hearings of private Family Division cases are held in public so not only will the settlement be in the open, but also any deals covering gagging orders, security arrangements, properties, and custody of their four-year-old daughter, Beatrice.

While Sir Paul’s legal team, headed by Fiona Shackleton who represented the Prince of Wales in his divorce, has reportedly denied he is worth £835 million, Miss Mills is alleging the figure is more than £1 billion.

The highest divorce payout awarded by a British court was the £48 million made to Beverley Charman after her 28-year marriage to insurance magnate John Charman. That sum came from the couple’s total assets of £131 million.

Lawyers specialising in big-money payouts say agreements as high as £100 million have been reached privately.

Sir Paul, 65, married former model and charity campaigner Miss Mills, 40, in 2002, but they split four years later.

Since the separation was announced in May 2006, there has been growing speculation about Miss Mills’s demands.

Marilyn Stowe, one of the UK’s top divorce lawyers, predicted that Miss Mills will receive between £20 million and £25 million.

"My view is to the lower end of that band.

"It was a very short marriage and most of Sir Paul’s wealth was made well before they met - even before she was born.

"Her claims, in my opinion, are very limited but the existence of the child alters the situation.

"The court will have to bear in mind that a child living with Mum should not have to experience an appreciable difference to the standard of living when living with Dad."

She said that if the couple are also split over whether or not any details of the settlement should be made public, it will be up to Mr Justice Bennett to make the decision.

Miss Stowe, who has acted for aristocrats, footballers’ wives and rock stars’ spouses, is known as "The Barracuda".

She is the author of two guides to surviving marriage breakdowns.