Liam Gallagher, former frontman singer for the Oasis musical group, and his wife, Nicole Appleton, a singer with a group popular in the 1990s, All Saints, racked up more than $1 million in legal bills. According to reports, they spent more than two years arguing about how their $16 million in assets should be divided. During the acrimonious proceedings, they both alleged the other had either misused or lied about assets.
Gallagher alleged that Appleton wasted assets and spent extravagantly during the last few months of their marriage and continued to do so up to the time of the hearing over the asset dispute. She vehemently denied the allegations. In turn, Appelton alleged that Gallagher hid assets and misrepresented the earning potential of Pretty Green, a fashion company in which he was a shareholder. They disagreed about the value of their marital home. They disagreed about each one’s future earning potential and other financial resources available to each party.
Appleton also complained that Gallagher’s legal fees were “manifestly excessive.” Although the judge expressed concern and agreed the costs had been “manifestly excessive,” he concluded that, while there was a clear disparity between the costs to each party, and that Gallagher’s attorneys charged substantially higher fees than did Appleton’s, there was no evidence “to find that the husband’s costs were in some way inappropriately occurred or wantonly expended.”
The British court, after hearing evidence presented by both parties, who were each cross-examined by the attorneys for the other one, determined that Gallagher had not hidden assets and that the couple, who had been together for 15 years and married for five years before they separated, had both “enjoyed freely” the money Gallagher earned from his music. After considering that, along with all evidence concerning earning capacity and all other financial resources available to each party, the judge divided all assets equally between the two. Each got 5.5 million pounds – equal to more than 8 million U.S. Dollars.
Our experienced attorneys at the DiPietro Family Law Group help clients in Washington D.C., Virginia or Maryland with complex issues relating to high net worth divorce. We know how to resolve difficult, emotional negotiations and to constrain the costs of divorce. Please contact our offices at (888) 530-4374 for a confidential consultation.