Madonna And Ritchie Divorce Deal

• 21st Nov 2008

Whatever you think about Guy Ritchie's frequently terrible films, you have to respect the man for not asking for a penny off soon-to-be-ex-wife Madonna, despite UK divorce laws in theory offering him anything up to half of Madge's estimated £300 million fortune. Of course Ritchie himself is reportedly worth about £30 million, so it's not like he needed the money, but still, resisting the temptation to use the divorce courts to double your wealth overnight is a good thing.

Billie Piper famously adopted the same attitude when she divorced Chris Evans of course, winning much public respect in the process, and leading to the expression that “Guy was doing a Billie Piper” being used by at least two legal experts yesterday.

We know Ritchie has requested a cash-less divorce from Madonna because negotiations between the couple's respective legal reps have been completed, a lot quicker than many expected, and the couple's decree nisi is expected to be posted at the London High Court today.

However, it was known from the start that the big issue was not the money but the children, the couple's son Rocco and adopted son David. Madonna is known to want to return to New York with her children, while Ritchie wanted them to stay with him in London. There were rumours Madge would try to get custody of the kids by offering Ritchie a generous financial package, but given money never seems to have been on his agenda, that plan was never going to work or, possibly, never actually existed.

Both sides hired legal help who were experts on custody battles, and it seems a deal was reached earlier this week as to how the two boys will split their time between London and New York.