Judge Rules On Mcartney Mills Divorce - She get £24.3 Million

Paul Mcartney

So, it was revealed yesterday that that there Heather Mills will get a divorce pay off of £24.3 million from good old Paul McCartney,

The £24.3 million splits up into a £14 million lump sum, an additional £2.5 million to buy a London property and £7.8 million in assets. The pay out was decided upon by Mr Justice Bennett after the couple failed to reach a settlement during their divorce proceedings last month. The whole divorce case was held behind doors, of course, as is the norm with Family Court cases at first instance, but the judge issued a summary report outlining his ruling on the matter yesterday afternoon, seemingly with the blessing of both McCartney and Mills. The former said he'd like a full report of the divorce proceedings to be published, but Mills is opposing that on the basis it would infringe the couple's daughter's privacy. The judge is expected to decide whether or not to publish regardless later today.

McCartney made no other comment about the ruling, though Mills did. She said she was "very, very happy" with the judge's decision, even though the court statement revealed that it was nowhere near the sum she had originally demanded - which was in the region of £125 million. However, it was more than the £15 million Macca's people originally offered (a fact also included in the court's statement), so Mills saw the judges ruling as a victory, adding "I'm not appealing against the judgment because it's not worth it". Despite being "very, very happy", Mills still found time to rant about the British justice system and lawyers in general, adding that she was glad that, in the end, she represented herself in court, and encouraged others in divorce cases to consider doing so, telling reporters: "You can be a litigant in person. It's not easy, but just make sure you do all your research, save yourself a fortune".

Of course many lawyers would probably disagree, mainly because the £25 million Mills won, while £10 million more than Macca offered, is less than some experts had expected. And a lot less than some had predicted. Key to the relative lowness of the pay off were the judge's opinion that McCartney was actually worth about £400 million, and not the £800 million Mills claimed, or the £600 million often quoted. The shortness of the marriage and the fact the majority of that fortune predated it are also said to have been a consideration. Still, the consensus among lawyers last night was that McCartney had got off quite lightly. And from a PR point of view, Macca is also probably also the winner - especially if the full court papers do get published, the fact McCartney is pro-publication presumably means there's lots of comical Mills ranting in the documents that could further public disdain for the former Mrs McCartney.

Still, Mills did get £17,000 for every day of the couple's marriage, and possibly got the last laugh given the dampness of McCartney's lawyer's hair as she left the court house and Heather's comment that lawyer Fiona Shackleton had been "baptised in court". Many infer that Mills threw a glass of water over Macca's legal rep, and at the end of the day, say what you like about Heather, but I think we've all wanted to throw some water at a lawyer at some point in our lives.

Anyway, the matter is resolved, except for the possible publication of the full court papers and the Mills mocking that is sure to follow. Despite the money to buy a London home, many expected her to now up sticks and settle down in America.