McCartney divorce set to be finalized

LONDON (Reuters) - Paul McCartney and his estranged wife Heather Mills are scheduled to return to London's High Court on Monday for their divorce to be formally finalized.

At the hearing before Justice Hugh Bennett, the couple are likely to be granted a divorce on the uncontested basis that they have lived apart for two years.

In March, Bennett blasted Mills, branding her evidence in a battle over her divorce settlement as "inconsistent and inaccurate."

He ended up awarding Mills 24.3 million pounds ($48.7 million) -- a fifth of the sum she had been seeking. That still gave her the equivalent of about $34,000 for each day of her four-year marriage to the pop icon.

In his judgment, Bennett also set a time-table for the final divorce.

He said that the former Beatle and Mills had agreed to stay their divorce proceedings until May. By then, they would have been separated for two years.

At the time he scheduled Monday's hearing, Bennett said, "I hope to be able to pronounce a decree nisi of divorce."

McCartney married the former model and charity activist in 2002, four years after his first wife, Linda, died of breast cancer. They have a daughter, Beatrice.

Reuters/Nielsen