Darts legend Phil Taylor ordered to stump up more in divorce

Darts player Phil 'The Power' Taylor has been ordered to pay his estranged wife £830,000 in a divorce settlement, along with several houses the couple owned.

56-year-old Taylor, a world champion 16 times over, is said to earn £1 million a year, and to have assets worth around £3.4 million. He owns an 8.2% stake in the Professional Darts Corporation and has his own company, Phil The Power Taylor Ltd, valued after tax at £758,000.

Taylor split up from wife Yvonne two years ago, after a 26-year marriage. Starting with nothing, 54-year-old Yvonne brought up their four children to allow her husband to pursue his career.

When they split, Taylor offered his wife a package worth £830,000 in total. But, said judge Mark Rogers at a family court in Nottingham, he 'could and should have done more'.

"He said he always paid the bills and did not keep the wife short," said the judge. "On this point alone his evidence was less convincing."

Taylor reportedly left his daughters living on benefits in the aftermath of the split.

But he has now been ordered to up the settlement to include five properties, including the £600,000 marital home in Crewe, Cheshire and a house in Tenerife.

Over the last year or two, there's been an increasing trend towards such clean break settlements, with spousal maintenance becoming rarer or, in some cases, limited to just a few years.

Judges will consider whether, as in this case, one partner has sacrificed their career to support the other, and try to make sure that neither party is left in need while the other enjoys the high life.

In this case, the judge ruled, the settlement should be enough to give Yvonne enough to live on for life.

"She has no realistic opportunity to improve upon her position," he said.

"The husband's future is much better, but his playing career is time limited. Post that playing career he will have some unquantifiable capacity to earn further. In my judgment the starting point is obviously that each is entitled to an equal share."