Heather Mills will be a very wealthy woman after her divorce from music legend Paul McCartney is final. Exactly how rich is yet to be seen but may be discovered as soon as Monday. British media reported on Friday that the judge who heard the McCartney-Mills divorce last month has sent a preliminary judgment to both parties. The judgment is expected to be entered on Monday, March 17, with a summary to be released to the public. [3/17/08 Update: McCartney-Mills Final Divorce Settlement]

Mills will reportedly receive around $50.8 million (£25 million) in property distribution. Despite spending a full week in court trying to come to a settlement agreement last month, Mills and McCartney could not reach an agreement. The case was ultimately given to the judge to decide. The court’s judgment will be binding. Either party could appeal, although the appeals process would likely make confidential details of the divorce public.As we discussed here earlier this week, McCartney and Mills did not sign a prenuptial agreement before their wedding in 2002. Reports estimate McCartney’s net worth at close to $1.5 billion – though much of that was his pre-marital or separate property. It seems, however, that money was not the only issue that Mills and McCartney were unable to agree on. McCartney reportedly wanted a gag clause in their settlement agreement, restricting Mills from writing a tell-all book or giving a tell-all interview about their relationship.

Mills is apparently going to receive a portion of the marital property accrued during the four years of her marriage to McCartney, as opposed to a portion of his entire estate. This is very similar to what we might expect to see here in the United States as well. In most states in the U.S., property or assets belonging to a spouse prior to the date of marriage is considered that spouse’s separate property (also known as premarital property). Usually, each spouse is awarded their own separate, pre-marital property in a divorce. An exception to this occurs when separate property is “commingled” with marital property (or assets acquired after the date of marriage). For example, if the wife has a large investment account prior to the marriage but she and her new husband continue to contribute additional money to the same investment account after the marriage, they have commingled community property (also called marital property) with the wife’s separate property. It would be nearly impossible for a court to determine how much of the account’s growth (or loss) was attributable to the premarital funds and how much to the marital funds. In this case the entire account would then be considered as community property.

McCartney and Mills separated in 2006 after four years of marriage. They have one daughter, Beatrice, born in 2003. There is no indication whether or not the impending judgment makes any determination regarding Beatrice’s custody or support.