UK divorce ruling 'may have ramifications for Paul McCartney'

Paul McCartney’s divorce lawyers will be watching carefully as insurance magnate John Charman today tries to claw back from his former wife more than half the biggest award in British legal history.

The 54-year-old owner of the Axis insurance group is arguing in the Court of Appeal that his £20m (€29.4m) offer was more than adequate and a £70m (€102m) family trust should not have been taken into account when the total assets of the marriage were assessed at £131m (€192m).

Beverley Charman, 53, was awarded by the High Court last year a total of £48m (€70m), including £8m (€11.6m) assets which were already in her name, having rejected the earlier proposal.

Divorce lawyers said at the time of the ruling, which reduced Mr Charman’s wealth to around £87m (€127m), that the case was likely to have ramifications for the forthcoming case between Heather Mills and Paul McCartney.

Like McCartney, Mr Charman began with nothing and built up a massive fortune through his own efforts, in his case in the insurance markets.

Mr Charman says that because of his special contribution in creating all the wealth, he should receive the greater share, and a lot more than 63%.

His lawyers are arguing before Lord Justice Potter, the President of the Family Division, and leading appeal judges Lord Justice Thorpe and Lord Justice Wilson, that the High Court judge was wrong in the way he divided the spoils of their marriage.

He says the High Court judge should have been worked out his and her needs, and then given most of the surplus to him because he created the wealth by becoming one of the leading figures in the insurance industry.

Mr Charman is claiming that the money he created in his current company, Axis, and the money in the Dragon Trust should be regarded as a business asset to which his wife made no contribution and therefore those assets should be treated differently in dividing the marital pot.