Madonna and Guy Ritchie face 'quickie' divorce

[duzazha]

Madonna and Guy Ritchie face 'quickie' divorce

Their case Ciccone M L v Ritchie G S is listed before District Judge Reid and is to be announced at 10am in Court 10 of the Principal Registry of the High Court's Family Division.

It is not necessary for the couple to attend the proceedings in High Holborn, central London.

A notice of their decree nisi will be published in the Registry of the Family Division in London later on Friday and a formal announcement from the couple is also expected.

Madonna will keep all of her 300 million fortune after Ritchie said to be worth 30 million said he did not want any of her money.

Legally, he could have been entitled to half of the wealth earned during their seven and a half year marriage, which is estimated to be 120 million, and reportedly rejected a 20 million offer.

The biggest concern was the children, with both parents wanting the two boys to live with them.

But the couple will share custody of their sons, eight year old Rocco and three year old adopted David, who will divide their time between New York with their mother and London with their father.

Madonna's 12 year old daughter Lourdes, from a previous relationship, will live in America with her mother.

Under the details hammered out by the couple's lawyers, it is understood that Ritchie will keep the couple's 1,200 acre estate in Wiltshire reputed to be worth 12 million and the Punchbowl Pub in Mayfair.

Madonna hired Fiona Shackleton, who represented Sir Paul McCartney in his acrimonious split from Heather Mills, while Ritchie took on Lady Helen Ward.

He also hired Stephen Cobb, QC, one of Britain's top children's lawyers.

Madonna and Ritchie were introduced at a dinner party by the singer Sting and his wife Trudie Styler in 1998.

They married in Scotland in December 2000 in Skibo Castle, but announced their separation last month after weeks of speculation.

Friends said Madonna's desire to adopt another child had been a source of friction, as was her wish to spend more time in America.

The 50 year old settled in England after marrying Ritchie, 40, and tried to adapt to British life, buying a home in London and hosting shooting parties at their Wiltshire property.

In August, the singer said "my husband and I are not planning on getting a divorce" and denied reports of a relationship with Alex Rodriguez, a New York Yankees baseball star.

The couple's most recent public appearance together was in September, at the premiere of Ritchie's film RocknRolla, but a source said they could not bear "to live with the pretence any longer".