Post by shayne on May 30, 2006 20:41:36 GMT 8
McFadden set to lament his UK divorce
Dearbhail McDonald
ACHING laments about his perfect family have made Brian McFadden a multi-millionaire, but the former Westlife star could lose a chunk of his fortune by becoming the first Irish casualty of last week’s House of Lords ruling on divorce.
McFadden, who agreed to allow his former wife, Kerry Katona, to file for divorce in Britain, is said to be “extremely concerned” at the ruling that ex-wives are entitled to a huge slice of their spouses’ wealth, even when marriages don’t last very long.
The law lords have ruled that women who sacrifice careers to bring up children and look after the home should be compensated, and can claim a share of their husbands’ future incomes. Even in a short marriage, a wife might be entitled to a 50-50 split of the wealth created.
In two test cases last week, the Lords ruled that Melissa Miller, 36, could keep the £5m (€7.3m) that she was awarded from the £17.5m fortune of her husband, Alan, a City fund manager; and that Julia McFarlane, 46, was entitled to £250,000 a year from her husband, Kenneth, for as long as she needs it. After the landmark judgments, family lawyers advised British couples to sign prenuptial agreements before getting married, and warned rich young men they might be better off not getting married at all.
A legal source close to the proceedings between McFadden and Katona said it now seems inevitable the Dublin singer will have to part with a portion of his future income as part of any divorce settlement.
“Brian is much more exposed now given that the divorce is filed in Britain,” the source said. “He wanted to file for divorce in Dublin in order to protect his future earnings. It’s certain now that he will have to maintain Kerry indefinitely. It is hard, even before last week’s ruling, to understand why he ever agreed to her request that proceedings should be filed in Britain in the first place.”
McFadden, now a solo artist based in America, has personal assets worth an estimated €5m.
McFadden, 26, married Katona, 25, in a blaze of publicity at Slane Castle four years ago. The marriage lasted little more than two years before an acrimonious split, following which Katona, a former member of Atomic Kitten, was admitted into a rehab clinic suffering from depression.
Last week, in the wake of the British ruling, McFadden’s legal team met to review his case against the woman he recently dubbed an “unfit mother”. Katona has full custodial rights to their children, Molly, 4, and Lilly Sue, 3.
Katona, who has engaged a leading law firm in London, is understood to have sought advice on the impact of Brussels II, a new European law that allows spouses to seek a “quickie” divorce in another jurisdiction based on a one-year residency requirement. In Ireland, married couples must wait four years before they can file for divorce, a stipulation that was designed to protect impoverished wives, but which is now being bypassed by wealthy husbands.
The new laws have led to “divorce planning” and “forum shopping” by rich men seeking a foreign divorce in order to safeguard their assets.
McFadden, who is now in a relationship with Delta Goodrem, 21, an Australian actress and singer, also sought advice on Brussels II, but allowed Katona to file for divorce in Britain because it has a more relaxed parental- custody regime.
The British ruling has been received warmly by Irish family lawyers, but some fear the pendulum has swung too far in favour of stay-at-home mothers and may act as a deterrent to marriage. “Home-making has now been recognised as a valid career option,” said Jayne Maguire, a barrister who specialises in family law.
“In practice, women will now be rewarded financially for staying at home. The Irish constitution says that unpaid work in the home by women is vital to society, and this ruling accords with that mandate. But it will also strike fear in the hearts of wealthy Irish men who will now be loathe to marry. The backlash will be an increased demand for prenuptial agreements to be recognised in our courts.”
Irish mothers are usually awarded full custody of children by the courts and maintenance provisions for dependent spouses and children are standard. No definitive judgment has been handed down by Irish courts on the question of whether former wives are entitled to a cut of future earnings, but last year four applications came before the High Court seeking “top-ups” on original separation agreements.
Echoing the Ray Parlour case — in which the former wife of an Arsenal and England football player secured a 37% stake of his £1.2m (€1.75m) income for the next three years — the Irish courts have decided to revise separation and divorce agreements where “material circumstances” have changed.
The public spat between McFadden and Katona has intensified as their divorce hearings loom. Last week, in an interview with Star magazine, McFadden vowed to “drop bombshells” about Katona, who last year was named Celebrity Mother of the Year, in order to get custody of their young daughters.
“Kerry has a different best friend practically every month and recently she seems to have a different man just as often. She’s an unfit mother,” the singer claimed. “She lays down crazy demands about when I can visit, designed to make it impossible for me to see them.”
Katona, who was in Dublin last week to take part in a photoshoot, laughed off the war of words with her former husband. Asked about her daughters, she joked: “One of them is with social services and the other one is being put up for adoption.”
Source: The Sunday Times
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-2200274,00.html
Dearbhail McDonald
ACHING laments about his perfect family have made Brian McFadden a multi-millionaire, but the former Westlife star could lose a chunk of his fortune by becoming the first Irish casualty of last week’s House of Lords ruling on divorce.
McFadden, who agreed to allow his former wife, Kerry Katona, to file for divorce in Britain, is said to be “extremely concerned” at the ruling that ex-wives are entitled to a huge slice of their spouses’ wealth, even when marriages don’t last very long.
The law lords have ruled that women who sacrifice careers to bring up children and look after the home should be compensated, and can claim a share of their husbands’ future incomes. Even in a short marriage, a wife might be entitled to a 50-50 split of the wealth created.
In two test cases last week, the Lords ruled that Melissa Miller, 36, could keep the £5m (€7.3m) that she was awarded from the £17.5m fortune of her husband, Alan, a City fund manager; and that Julia McFarlane, 46, was entitled to £250,000 a year from her husband, Kenneth, for as long as she needs it. After the landmark judgments, family lawyers advised British couples to sign prenuptial agreements before getting married, and warned rich young men they might be better off not getting married at all.
A legal source close to the proceedings between McFadden and Katona said it now seems inevitable the Dublin singer will have to part with a portion of his future income as part of any divorce settlement.
“Brian is much more exposed now given that the divorce is filed in Britain,” the source said. “He wanted to file for divorce in Dublin in order to protect his future earnings. It’s certain now that he will have to maintain Kerry indefinitely. It is hard, even before last week’s ruling, to understand why he ever agreed to her request that proceedings should be filed in Britain in the first place.”
McFadden, now a solo artist based in America, has personal assets worth an estimated €5m.
McFadden, 26, married Katona, 25, in a blaze of publicity at Slane Castle four years ago. The marriage lasted little more than two years before an acrimonious split, following which Katona, a former member of Atomic Kitten, was admitted into a rehab clinic suffering from depression.
Last week, in the wake of the British ruling, McFadden’s legal team met to review his case against the woman he recently dubbed an “unfit mother”. Katona has full custodial rights to their children, Molly, 4, and Lilly Sue, 3.
Katona, who has engaged a leading law firm in London, is understood to have sought advice on the impact of Brussels II, a new European law that allows spouses to seek a “quickie” divorce in another jurisdiction based on a one-year residency requirement. In Ireland, married couples must wait four years before they can file for divorce, a stipulation that was designed to protect impoverished wives, but which is now being bypassed by wealthy husbands.
The new laws have led to “divorce planning” and “forum shopping” by rich men seeking a foreign divorce in order to safeguard their assets.
McFadden, who is now in a relationship with Delta Goodrem, 21, an Australian actress and singer, also sought advice on Brussels II, but allowed Katona to file for divorce in Britain because it has a more relaxed parental- custody regime.
The British ruling has been received warmly by Irish family lawyers, but some fear the pendulum has swung too far in favour of stay-at-home mothers and may act as a deterrent to marriage. “Home-making has now been recognised as a valid career option,” said Jayne Maguire, a barrister who specialises in family law.
“In practice, women will now be rewarded financially for staying at home. The Irish constitution says that unpaid work in the home by women is vital to society, and this ruling accords with that mandate. But it will also strike fear in the hearts of wealthy Irish men who will now be loathe to marry. The backlash will be an increased demand for prenuptial agreements to be recognised in our courts.”
Irish mothers are usually awarded full custody of children by the courts and maintenance provisions for dependent spouses and children are standard. No definitive judgment has been handed down by Irish courts on the question of whether former wives are entitled to a cut of future earnings, but last year four applications came before the High Court seeking “top-ups” on original separation agreements.
Echoing the Ray Parlour case — in which the former wife of an Arsenal and England football player secured a 37% stake of his £1.2m (€1.75m) income for the next three years — the Irish courts have decided to revise separation and divorce agreements where “material circumstances” have changed.
The public spat between McFadden and Katona has intensified as their divorce hearings loom. Last week, in an interview with Star magazine, McFadden vowed to “drop bombshells” about Katona, who last year was named Celebrity Mother of the Year, in order to get custody of their young daughters.
“Kerry has a different best friend practically every month and recently she seems to have a different man just as often. She’s an unfit mother,” the singer claimed. “She lays down crazy demands about when I can visit, designed to make it impossible for me to see them.”
Katona, who was in Dublin last week to take part in a photoshoot, laughed off the war of words with her former husband. Asked about her daughters, she joked: “One of them is with social services and the other one is being put up for adoption.”
Source: The Sunday Times
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-2200274,00.html