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Friday, January 22, 2010 - 9:20 PM
Among the most publicized aspects of singer Paul McCartney's divorce
from model Heather Mills was the absence of a prenuptial agreement,
even though such documents are often ignored entirely by British
courts. In the U.K., courts consider the length of the marriage, the
needs of any children, the prior assets and the relative contributions
of the parties to the matrimonial property as among the most
significant factors when determining the division of property. In the
case of Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire and Mills, almost all of these factors were contested
by the both side's attorneys. Mills claimed to have had a significant
income from modeling prior to the marriage, but McCartney's income from
his career as an entertainer and subsequent investments dwarfed hers.
Just how much of a difference was to be a matter of some debate. Mills
requested £125 million (approximately $200 million) of McCartney's
estate, which her lawyers estimated to be valued at around £850 million
($1.5 billion), but McCartney's attorneys offered her only £15.8
million (about $28 million), and valued McCartney's estate at only £450
million (around $800 million).
Mills, perhaps sensing that the
case was going badly for her, dumped a carafe of water over the head of
one of McCartney's attorneys during proceedings and also unsuccessfully
attempted to have the judgment sealed. The final resolution was largely
seen as a victory for McCartney's team. Mills was awarded just over £24
million (about $45 million), significantly more than McCartney's
attorneys had initially offered, but a far cry from the hundreds of
millions her team had requested. The harshest blow to Mills may have
been the judge's opinion of her statements in court: "I am driven to
the conclusion that much of her evidence, both written and oral, was
not just inconsistent and inaccurate but also less than candid."
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