£46million divorce settlement makes Heather Mills one of UK's richest women

Last updated at 20:27pm on 14.03.08

London Evening Standard.co.uk

 

Heather Mills is to receive a divorce settlement of up to £46million from Sir Paul McCartney.

 

The former model will get an immediate lump sum payment of £25million from the ex-Beatle.

But she has told friends she also hopes to be given maintenance of up to £1.5million a year as the main carer of the couple's four-year-old daughter, Beatrice, until the girl turns 18.

 

Since it is directly related to Beatrice however, the maintenance figure may never be made public in the settlement handed down by High Court judge Mr Justice Bennett.

 

Miss Mills, 40, had been fighting for £2.5million a year from 65-year-old Sir Paul to cover such costs as security for her and her daughter.

 

But she is understood to be expecting much less in the final agreement, which is also linked to a confidentiality clause.

 

Mr Justice Bennett is yet to officially tell either party his decision on the level of any annual payment – if indeed any is given.

 

Details of the settlement were reportedly 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 £10million.

 

The judge sent each team of lawyers his preliminary judgment on the lump sum this week under strict orders not to reveal the contents.

 

Neither party is likely to object to the basic details being divulged.

 

A source said: "On an analysis of the case law, Mills was always going to receive around £25million. I think it's fair to say the judge has not erred from that.

 

"The judgment is very thorough. He has gone into every detail to make sure neither party can have grounds for appeal.

 

"It's fair to say the judgment is very long."

 

Depending on the level of the annual payment, the settlement could become the biggest in British divorce history.

 

A summary of Mr Justice Bennett's findings is also expected to be made public, ending almost two years of speculation about the size of Miss Mills' payout.

 

Both parties are expected to be pleased with the outcome.

 

Sir Paul will be relieved he is not giving away more of his money, while Miss Mills will leave the High Court on Monday as one of the wealthiest women in Britain.

 

It will be very difficult for her to appeal against the settlement without bolstering her image as a "gold-digger", a label she has vehemently objected to

 

The source said: "The judgment on the whole is reasonable and acceptable and appears very sensible.

 

"I doubt there will be an appeal – although who knows?"

 

According to the source, Sir Paul's claim that he is not nearly as wealthy as has been previously estimated has been accepted by Mr Justice Bennett.

 

Rich lists have put his fortune at £825million and Miss Mills believed it to be higher.

 

But the judge appears to have agreed to evidence given by actuaries and accountants that the star is worth much less – the headline figure is not clear – restricting the final lump sum settlement to Miss Mills.

 

The source said: "It is always a problem in divorce cases proving what the husband is actually worth.

 

"In this case, like others McCartney had the information and it was impossible for Mills to prove otherwise."

 

But Miss Mills will also be delighted that her decision to represent herself – she parted company with her law firm Mishcon de Reya in the run-up to the six-day hearing last month – has not backfired.

 

Do you think Heather Mills deserves this divorce settlement payment or do you think the law is an ass?

:o Crikey, I still think she is a money grabbing cow.

Disgraceful decision :manson:

 

What role has she taken in Paul accumulating his wealth ? did she write any Beatles songs ? did she play any instruments in Beatles or Wings ?

 

She has made no contribution to the wealth he has built up so should not be entitled to any money other than maintanance payments for the child

 

 

If she'd wanted to divorce him so much, then she wouldn't of even got a grand out of it.

 

But £46 Million says it all!

£46 million for 4 year marriage :o I agree, she's a money grabbing so and so! He should have married me, I'd have happily settled for a million :lol:

may she get woodworm.

shes doesnt deserve 46 pence..... detestable cow... how tf is she entitled to THAT?..

then again... shouldn't we be asking the question... would a man who is really as nicey-nicey and wholesome as Paul McCartney's publicists would have us believe he is ever get tangled up with someone so noxious?

 

Or is the private Paul McCartney very, very different to this image we've been sold?

then again... shouldn't we be asking the question... would a man who is really as nicey-nicey and wholesome as Paul McCartney's publicists would have us believe he is ever get tangled up with someone so noxious?

 

Or is the private Paul McCartney very, very different to this image we've been sold?

 

He was getting over the death of Linda, this leech moved in on him, when people go through traumatic stuff they often can't think straight and act out of character, stumpy was probably very nice to him and there for him when he was down as she lured him into her web of gold digging to get his money

 

 

Blimey!

 

Heather Mills is a charity campaigner so I'm hoping she is going to do something useful with all of that money.

Or is the private Paul McCartney very, very different to this image we've been sold?

 

i doubt it.... he has been in the media spotlight for nearly 50 years ... no one could have kept up that charade, secret, from everybody for that long ... you aint standing up for the cow are you?

£46 million for 4 year marriage :o I agree, she's a money grabbing so and so! He should have married me, I'd have happily settled for a million :lol:

 

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

I'd have settled for two pints of lager and a packet of crisps!

 

Norma

Nearly all the papers are saying it is only £25m and are claiming this is a big victory to Macca seeing as it's less than he offered her to begin with :lol: I don't care if he is a billionaire or not, to have to give £25m to that vile creature must be like torture, but at least he can move on now. Why she should get anything is beyond me. What did she contribute to his fortune? It is beyond ridiculous.

I'd just be happy married to him! If the marriage was on the blink, I'd do everything to save it!

Sir Paul to pay divorce settlement

 

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney will have to pay ex-wife Heather Mills a divorce settlement of £24.3 million.

 

A Family Court judge awarded Mills a lump sum of £16.5 million plus the assets she currently holds worth £7.8 million, according to a court-released document.

 

"I'm so, so happy with this," Mills said at an impromptu news conference on the steps of Royal Courts of Justice after the closed hearing. "I'm so glad it's over."

 

"It was an incredible result in the end to secure mine and my daughter's future and that of all the charities that I obviously plan on helping and making a difference with -- because you know it has been my life for 20 years."

 

Mills said that while she was pleased with the financial settlement, she intends to appeal against the decision to publish the full judgment, including details concerning the couple's four-year-old daughter, Beatrice.

 

Only a summary of the judgment was released on Monday.

 

McCartney, 65, and Mills, 40, went to court last month to decide on Mills' share of his fortune, which had been estimated at as much as £825 million.

 

Judge Hugh Bennett, however, found that the total value of McCartney's assets, including his business assets, was about £400 million. He said there was no evidence to support the widely published figure that was more than twice as high.

 

Mills said the settlement vindicated her decision to fire her lawyers. The legal fees, she said, instead "could easily go to charity".

 

The settlement was higher than what McCartney had said his estranged wife should receive -- £15.8 million including her own assets. Mills, however, had sought almost £125 million.

 

Copyright © 2008 The Press Association

 

Still way more than the money grabber deserved :rolleyes:

god... that vile cows antics outside the court was typical of her... she has no clue on how to court the public...

then again... shouldn't we be asking the question... would a man who is really as nicey-nicey and wholesome as Paul McCartney's publicists would have us believe he is ever get tangled up with someone so noxious?

 

Or is the private Paul McCartney very, very different to this image we've been sold?

 

Considering absolutely nothing came out of the allegations that Paul went around hitting Heather (and nothing came out of out of it basically because it was a bloody bald faced lie on the part of that evil, money-grubbing cow herself - "leak" my arse <_< ....) then I'm not willing to accept any improper insinuations made purely to blacken the guy's name, I'm not any kind of great fan of his, god knows if there had been any truth to the rumours of wife-beating, I'd want his head on a pole, absolutely... As Rob said, it would be nigh on impossible to keep up that sort of charade for 50 years, especially in this day and age of the internet and mass media culture, absolutely impossible in fact...

 

There's dirt being dished on just about every celeb going these days, the fact is that practically nothing is ever dug up about Paul McCartney, and I would imagine that there are plenty of paparazzi and gutter press types out there who would just dearly love to find something, anything on the guy to bring him down, he would be pretty much the Great White Whale for these Ahabs let's face it mate.. If these professional, full-time dirt-diggers can't find much of anything, well, really, there's probably nothing really to find, but that's just my personal opinion....

 

As for the settlement.. It's frankly bloody outrageous, beyond maintenance for the child, she should get bugger all, this makes her just about the highest paid whore in the history of Prostitution really.... -_- She's a lying, scheming, conniving little whore who basically preyed upon a bloke who'd lost his wife of several decades, manipulated his emotions, made him think she actually loved him, but in fact was just a dirty little gold-digger.... She's a vile, VILE character who doesn't even know how to behave herself in public.....

oh just missed it... on the news that thingy that heather didnt want being made public... only just caught some of it but the gist is something like,.... she made claims that just arnt true... summut about 'giving to charity' that she DIDNT do ... theres more..

.. and she's still trying to get more out of him.

silly cow.