James Stunt and Petra Ecclestone, the latter being the daughter of F1s supremo Bernie Ecclestone, are set for one of the most expensive divorces ever, if not the priciest celebrity divorces ever seen.
Last week, in a court proceeding the F1’s husband, Stunt, appeared to make a gun gesture to Mr Ecclestone, and left the building flipping the middle finger to photographers.
The basis of the split revolves around what the court has heard are allegations of abuse and overdoses, which according to David Williams QC, Stunt has admitted to, but the court has heard ‘strong disputes’ against these claims.
According to The Sun, Petra recently moved out of the couple’s £75 million mansion and is renting a three-bed house during the £5billion divorce proceedings. Her lawyer, David Williams QC, says she now wants back in to the mansion. The judge has now ordered Stunt out of the mansion, so that Petra can move back with their children.
The original pre-nup agreement the couple signed upon marriage amounted to £16million, but there are plenty of other assets to be accounted for. He also owns over 200 vintage cars, from Lamborghini to Rolls Royce, a a couple of Picasso and Monet works. Over the years, Stunt has also amassed a fortune worth around £4 billion. Their wedding itself, in 2011, was reported to have cost around £12 million.
The next hearing on the matter is due in October.
Bryan Scant, Solicitor at law firm Coffin Mew, in response to this story told Lawyer Monthly: “Petra Eccleston and James Stunt’s divorce will be anything but straight forward, as the initial hearing reported in yesterday’s media illustrates.
“Pre-nuptial agreements are also not binding in England and in certain circumstances the court may disregard them. For example, if the pre-nup doesn’t cater for the fact that a couple may one day have children, then the agreement may be ignored by the court, or if it was entered into many years earlier and has not been updated. This will put the £16m pre-nup that Mr Stunt reportedly signed under much scrutiny during these multi-billion-pound divorce proceedings.
“Legal costs can easily escalate when looking the matrimonial finances and couples need to be wary of arguing over principles, which ends up being costly. If one party chooses to disengage from the process or attempts to hide or dispose of assets then the costs of trying to establish this can also be substantial in certain circumstances.
“One difficulty, as the Ecclestone/Stunt divorce shows, is where third parties have to be included in proceedings because they have somehow become embroiled in the divorcing couples’ finances. The total costs can then escalate when this happens as each party has to have independent advice and representation and often the legal matters are complex and will only be resolved with the assistance of a Judge.
“With reports suggesting no love lost between Mr Stunt and his soon-to-be former father-in-law, this divorce could prove to be extremely costly indeed.”
(Photo source: Alan Chapman/REX)
