A man in Gloucestershire, Nigel Page has been left appalled after the wife who left him for another man ten years ago was able to grab £2million of his lottery winnings, reports Daily Mail, London.
Page, who won the £56million Euromillions jackpot earlier this year, is said to have been planning a generous gift to his former wife.But this wasn't enough for Wendy Page, 43, who decided to take legal action against him for more.
Sources close to the winner's family say she had wanted £8million, but settled for a quarter of that in an out-of-court deal. She was due to receive the money into her bank account yesterday.
Page – said to have been shocked by the legal threat – offered to put the £2million in a trust fund for their 13-year-old daughter. This was vetoed.
Page, 44, a former property maintenance worker, landed Britain's third biggest lottery win in February, when an online lucky dip ticket won him half of a £113million Euromillions prize.
He and his partner Justine Laycock, 42, celebrated by getting married shortly after the win.
They moved into a £4million six-bedroom eco-home with 25-seat cinema and an indoor swimming pool near the Cotswold village of Barnsley and count Liz Hurley and Kate Moss as neighbours.
They gave their £235,000 home in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, to their former cleaner, and the couple are known to have helped local charities and friends with payouts.
But Mrs Page, a human resources director at an investment firm, went to see lawyers after it emerged her ex-husband planned to give money to other relatives.
Their 11-year marriage collapsed in 2000 and she now lives in a waterside home in the Cotswolds. She is also believed to have secured a large increase in maintenance payments for their daughter – from £150 a month to £2,000 – and was seen just before her monster pay day with another man and a bottle of champagne.
Mr Page is thought to be the first lottery-winning husband in the UK to be successfully sued for a slice of his winnings.
Yesterday a source close to him said: ‘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.'
Mr Page is thought to have agreed to the settlement rather than face the prospect of a larger payout to his ex-wife in court.
A relative yesterday confirmed that the couple failed to include a legally-binding ‘clean break' clause at the time of their divorce.
The out-of-court settlement is understood to include a gagging order preventing either party from talking about it. Nigel Page and his wife are said to have split after Mr Page found a text message on his wife's phone from one of her colleagues.
Mrs Page left the family home, taking the couple's then three-year-old child with her. The friend said: ‘They have tried to keep things amicable over the years for the sake of the child. But this legal battle has taken its toll.
‘Wendy's relationship with the man she left Nigel for lasted two years.'
Another friend added of Mr Page's first marriage: ‘Nigel didn't want it to end. He was heartbroken for years until he met Justine. But he still provided for his daughter, taking her on holidays and being as good a dad as possible.
‘Nigel was prepared to give Wendy £1million. She didn't think it was enough. It's put a real dampener on everything at a time when he and Justine should be enjoying life.'Last night, Nigel Page's father, who lives in Cirencester, described his son's reaction to handing over the large sum of money to his former wife.
Brian Page said: ‘He's unhappy about what has happened. Our priority at the moment is our granddaughter.'
Wendy Page, who works for St James's Place Wealth Management in Cirencester, refused to discuss the settlement.
