One of Britain’s biggest lottery winners has been forced to hand over £2million to his ex-wife – who dumped him for another man 10 years ago.
Wendy Page, 43, took legal action against former husband Nigel, 44, who she divorced a decade before he scooped his £56 Euromillions jackpot earlier this year.
Friends say Wendy, the mother of his 13-year-old daughter, had wanted £8million – but settled for a quarter of the sum from Nigel out of court.
He is believed to be the first lottery winning husband in the UK to be successfully sued for a slice of his winnings.
Nigel, a property maintenance worker, landed Britain’s third biggest ever lottery win in February, when an online lucky dip ticket landed him half the £113 Euromillions prize.
The white van man and new girlfriend Justine Laycock, 42, celebrated by getting married. The huge win catapulted them to 980th on Britain’s rich list.
They moved into a £4million six-bed eco-home near the Cotswold village of Barnsley – dubbed ‘millionaires row’, where Liz Hurley and Kate Moss are neighbours.
The mansion features a 25-seat cinema and an indoor swimming pool.
Their old £235,000 home in Cirencester, Glos., was given to their cleaner.
The generous husband even reportedly offered his ex-wife £1million out of his kitty.
But Wendy, a human resources director at an investment firm, went to see lawyers after it emerged the couple planned to give away parts of their fortune to other relatives.
The determined mum was seeking an £8million slice of his cash for their failed 11-year marriage, which collapsed in 2000.
She has now accepted a £2million lump sum – after a bid by Nigel to pay it into a trust for their daughter Ella was vetoed.
Wendy is also believed to have obtained a huge increase in maintenance payments for their daughter – from £150 a month to £2,000.
Today a source was reported as saying: ”Nigel feels very hurt. The last seven months have been horrendous for him.
”Up to this point everyone got on pretty well. But what Wendy has done has ruined everything.
”Nigel has always provided for their daughter. Even when he was out of work he made sure she was all right.
”And right from the start Wendy was going to get a big gift.”
Nigel is thought to have agreed to the settlement rather than face the prospect of a larger payout to his ex-wife in court.
Legal experts say it was likely the couple failed to include a legally-binding ‘clean break’ clause at the time of their divorce.
The glaring omission would have made it easier for lawyers fighting on her behalf, claiming she was entitled to a substantial share of her ex-husband’s new fortune.
Frank Arndt, whose firm Stowe Family Law specialises in divorce and pre-nup agreements, said: ”A clean break means you cannot go back to the other side and ask for more maintenance or capital.”
The out-of-court settlement is understood to include a gagging order preventing either party from talking about it.
Nigel and Wendy, who works for St James’ Place Wealth Management, have both refused to comment.
