Despite initially claiming that their marriage failed before a ten-year cut-off line which, under Californian law, means that a divorcing couple’s assets are divided equally, Tom Cruise has reportedly agreed to Nicole Kidman’s 50-50 demands on their fortune. Jointly, the Mission Impossible star and his Australian wife are estimated to be worth £340 million.
Tom’s change of heart appears to have been brought about by Nicole’s announcement that she would use DNA samples taken when she suffered a miscarriage just weeks after her husband said their marriage was over to prove that the child was his. Tom, 39, has apparently cast doubt on whether he was the father, amid rumours that the Moulin Rouge actress had embarked on an affair.
Nicole is understood to have threatened to reveal the proof if a financial deal is not finalised between them before she jets off to Oz for a holiday in six weeks.
According to American publication Star magazine, the deal currently being brokered gives Nicole the £7-million seafront mansion in Los Angeles where the couple’s two adopted children, Isabella and Conor, have grown up, plus an Australian property overlooking Sydney harbour. Tom will retain the couple’s £1.5 million Manhattan apartment and their 130-acre ski resort home.
Tom, worth £250 million and one of Hollywood’s most successful leading men, is believed to have claimed that as a movie star in her own right and owner of a £90 million personal fortune Ms Kidman is quite capable of supporting herself. But despite her successful stage performances and well-received film roles, Nicole is not in the same financial league as the Top Gun actor.
With the key details now settled, the American magazine says the couple are concentrating on sorting out personal effects. This apparently includes the question of who gets Nicole’s £355,000 diamond wedding band.
Tom has moved out of the family home in LA and is living in rented accommodation in Beverly Hills.