Heather Mills's divorce battle over Sir Paul McCartney's reputed £825 million fortune will be decided by a High Court judge.

It will be up to Mr Justice Bennett to divide the spoils of their four-year marriage after the couple spent a week and a day in court behind closed doors.

Nicholas Mostyn QC, who has been representing the former Beatle in his fight with the former model, agreed as he left court that the judge had reserved his ruling.

This means rumours the couple had reached a settlement at the weekend were unfounded.

Mr Justice Bennett will decide on how the spoils of the marriage will be shared out and the conditions to be imposed on the warring couple.

His judgment, which will follow in a few weeks, will be binding on both former Beatle Sir Paul and Miss Mills, but could be challenged at the Court of Appeal if one side is unhappy about it.

But that would entail a dramatic change - no longer would the accusations from both sides be kept secret behind the doors of the court in the private Family Division of the High Court. If either party goes to appeal, the case becomes very public with all the documents and argument open to scrutiny.

It is well known that Sir Paul is anxious to keep the details of his four-year marriage to Miss Mills, who lost part of her leg in a road accident in 1993, out of the public domain.

But Miss Mills has no such qualms - she is reported to be planning a book on the subject which has the potential to earn her millions of pounds worldwide.

They married in June 2002, four years after Sir Paul's first wife Linda died of breast cancer.

It should have been a fairytale ending when the most successful musician in pop history married a beautiful former model.

But on Monday Sir Paul McCartney faces his estranged wife, Heather Mills, across a courtroom where they will be battling to reach a divorce settlement after a marriage that lasted less than four years.

With the former Beatle's fortune estimated at £825 million, it has the potential to be the most costly divorce in British legal history.

However, unless one of the McCartneys takes issue with the settlement being hammered out behind closed doors in the Family Division of the High Court and goes to the Court of Appeal, the figures and details will never be known to the outside world.

There has been speculation amongst divorce experts based on recent big money cases suggesting that the settlement could reach £60 million, exceeding the record £48 million businessman John Charman was told to pay his former wife in May this year.

But lawyers agree there are many imponderables which could limit Lady McCartney's payout, including the shortness of the marriage and the fact that the bulk of Sir Paul's fortune was amassed decades before the couple met - she is just 40 while he will be 66 this year.

They have a three-year-old daughter, Beatrice, whose future will also figure large in the negotiations.

The venue for the hearing is a cavernous, oak-panelled courtroom where the ceiling soars more than 30 ft.

It is in the West Green section of the Royal Courts of Justice - traditional home of divorce hearings before the advent of "quickie" divorces.

The hearing concerns the financial aspects of the divorce and will be a very private affair. All the public areas of the court will be empty and the media circus attracted by the celebrity court drama must content itself with just glimpses of the couple as they arrive for the hearing - and speculation over the events inside the court.

Charlie Sheen and his ex-wife, Denise Richards, were in Los Angeles family court Tuesday. Commissioner Harvey A. Silberman took the proceedings behind closed doors before there was any discussion about the reason for the hearing. Sheen arrived with his lawyer while Richards' attorney participated by telephone.

Sheen's publicist, Stan Rosenfield, said the 42-year-old actor would have no comment. Sheen and Richards, 36, have two daughters, 3-year-old Sam and 2-year-old Lola. Last September, Richards asked the court to not allow Sheen to keep the children overnight.  Sheen has complained that Richards is interfering with his relationship with his daughters.

A family court official has suspended troubled singer Britney Spears' visitation rights with her two young sons until the pop star complies with all of a commissioner's orders, court papers showed on Thursday. The order by Los Angeles County Commissioner Scott Gordon does not detail why he barred the singer from seeing her boys, Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, but it comes only one day after a lawyer for her ex-husband Kevin Federline went to court seeking an emergency hearing.

"Petitioner's (Britney's) visitation with the minor children is suspended pending Petitioner's compliance with the court orders," the order said.

Spears, 26 and Federline, 29, split up a year ago after two years of marriage and since then, her life has veered out of control despite a stint in rehab.

The pair have been embroiled in a bitter custody dispute, and in recent months Gordon ordered the boys should live with Federline under tightened rules regarding Spears' visits.

The singer has been ordered to get coaching on parenting skills, seek counseling and undergo random drug testing. Gordon has said evidence showed she was a frequent user of "controlled substances and alcohol."

Spears is due in court on October 26 for another custody hearing.

Paul McCartney and Heather Mills appeared in court Thursday as British media reported they may be nearing a settlement in their high-profile divorce. McCartney and Mills arrived separately at London's Royal Courts of Justice. Bodyguards shielded Mills from view with a dark blanket as she made her way into the neo-Gothic courthouse. A Mills aide later carried a wheelchair from the back of a car for the former model, who lost a leg in a motorcycle accident in 1993.

McCartney arrived minutes later, wearing a dark gray suit.

The hearing is listed discreetly on the daily court lists only by its case number, one of two cases not listed as assigned to a particular judge or courtroom. Even a small security viewing hole in the door of the court room was covered to stop prying eyes.

News reports say the immediate issue is likely to be the size of Mills' divorce settlement from the wealthy former Beatle. Press speculation has recently put the size of the settlement between $40 million and $100 million.

McCartney and Mills, who have a 3-year-old daughter, announced in May of last year that they were splitting up after four years of marriage.

They married in June 2002, four years after McCartney's first wife, Linda, died of breast cancer.

McCartney and Mills have a 3-year-old daughter, Beatrice.

Mills, 39, recently appeared as a contestant on the U.S. television network's "Dancing With the Stars" program. She was the first contestant to compete on the show with an artificial limb.

Pop singer Britney Spears has lost her bid to regain custody of her two young sons at a court hearing held yesterday. A judge ordered that 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James stay in the sole care of the singer's ex-husband Kevin Federline. Spears was, however, granted monitored visitation rights during the hearing. AdvertisementEarlier this week, Spears was ordered to hand the two children over to Federline after she allegedly failed to comply with a court order requesting that she produce a valid driving licence and agree to random drug and alcohol tests.

After yesterday's hearing, Federline's lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan told the media that the judge had granted Spears visitation rights, subject to certain conditions. Court spokesperson Allan Parachini said that the children's mother would be monitored during her visits, which would probably take place every other day.

A further hearing is due to take place on 26 October, with both Spears and Federline required to attend. Meanwhile, television therapist Dr Phil McGraw has offered to help the couple during their custody battle. His spokesperson said: "He would be prepared to offer whatever help he could provide."

New regulations now require passports for U.S. citizens traveling by air to any country including Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. These new rules may affect some parents who owe child support.

"Nebraska parents with more than $2,500 in past due support will run into some trouble when they apply for a passport," said Daryl Wusk, Administrator of Nebraska Health and Human Services System's Office of Economic and Family Support. "Passport denial is one of the techniques child support enforcement uses when a parent doesn't provide financial support to his or her child."

In 2006, state officials collected over $60,000 after passports were denied.

Recently, the passport denial threshold changed from $5,000 to $2,500. If a parent owes more than $2,500 in past due support, the U.S. Secretary of State will refuse to issue or renew a passport. Since the change, about 500 Nebraskans owing more than two million dollars in child support won't be able to get a passport.

Officials say the new passport regulations along with the lower threshold will substantially increase Nebraska's child support collections.

The federal government began the Passport Denial Program in 1998.

Custodial and non-custodial parents can apply for child support services. The customer service phone number is 1-877-631-9973. For more information about child support, go to www.hhss.ne.gov/cse/cseindex.htm.