The two rulings could have an impact on any divorce between former Beatle Paul McCartney, who has an estimated £825mn, and his wife Heather Mills.
LONDON: Britain’s highest court, the House of Lords, ruled in favour of the ex-wives in two high profile divorces on Wednesday in cases which could be used as a precedent for other big money settlements. The five Law Lords dismissed an appeal by one millionaire who claimed his former wife was given too much by a divorce judge and at the same time allowed an appeal by the wife of another man who claimed she had not been given enough.
Observers have said the rulings could have an impact on any divorce between former Beatle Paul McCartney, who has an estimated £825 million and his wife Heather Mills who announced last week they were separating after four years.
In the first case, multi-millionaire fund manager Alan Miller lost a challenge to an order that he should give £five million to his former wife after just two years and nine months of marriage.
The couple had no children during the marriage but in the initial ruling, a judge decided Mrs Miller was entitled to a substantial settlement because she married with expectation of a future wealthy lifestyle.
The lawyer for Melissa Miller, Marcus Dearle, said the lump sum awarded to her was due in part to the fact a lot of money was made during the short marriage. “A lot of money was earned in a very, very short period of time,” he told the BBC.
In the second case, Julia McFarlane won a challenge to the ruling that her former husband would only have to pay her £2,50,000 annual maintenance for a limited period of time. She claimed she should receive maintenance for life and this was accepted by the Law Lords. The couple were married for 16 years.
Her lawyer, James Pirrie, described the ruling as “ground breaking”. “The judgement recognises her sacrifice and that marriage is a partnership,” he told reporters outside court. “The judges recognise her right to share in what she helped to create.”
“For Julia and the family, this represents the end of five years of uncertainty. We hope that there will be a better way of doing these things in the future but at least with the guidance given by the Law Lords today some of the uncertainty is going to be resolved.”
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