This is a controversial issue as it has been well reported that the former Beatle wishes to keep the divorce in the private domain. It was also previously thought that any financial settlement would not be made public unless one of the parties appealed. Nicholas Mostyn QC (who represents Sir Paul McCartney) stated that “if either party goes to appeal then the case becomes very public with all the documents and argument open to scrutiny”.
If Bennett J does make the judgment public, any motivation to try take the case to appeal with the specific intention of making matters public will be washed away. There is scope, therefore, for more finality if we are allowed to know the result. It will also sit better with the government’s recent drive for transparency in the family courts.
There has been speculation that Ms Mills could walk away with a financial settlement of £60 million. The current record in terms of financial settlement is the case of Charman v Charman (2006) where insurance tycoon, Mr John Charman was ordered to pay his former wife £48 million which represented 37% of his fortune. In that case there had been a 30 year marriage and there were two adult sons; the facts in McCartney are of course very different.
If Ms Mills gets £60 million this represents an estimated 7.3% of Sir Paul McCartney’s wealth (estimated to be over £800million). This may reflect the fact that the majority of his wealth was made prior to the marriage and would also take into consideration the short length of the marriage. Currently we can only speculate: but it has to be said that it may be good for family law and good for the parties if the judgment of the High Court in this case is made public.
Kimberly Baker