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Former Supermodel Claims She Needs $262 Million To Live, Most Expensive Divorce In British Law

By Jessica Dafoe
Published on: 07:34 PST, Jun 29, 2016

At London’s High Court on Tuesday, former supermodel Christina Estrada gave a testimony that detailed her “financial hardship,” and she gave examples of the life that she is accustomed to living as a formerly wealthy and successful figure.

The purpose of the court visit was for Estrada to seek nearly $262 million in compensation for a 13-year marriage to her Saudi billionaire husband, Walid Juffali.

Considering there are many people who scrape by and live paycheck to paycheck, it at first seems quite outrageous for a woman who had been offered a sizable amount as a settlement to be claiming financial hardship and requesting an even larger amount and stating that it is a necessity for her to live.

Estrada spoke about the lifestyle she had become used to.

“I am Christina Estrada. I was a top international model. I have lived this life. This is what I am accustomed to.”

The Daily Mail relays the reasons Christina feels that the amount given is reasonable based on her needs.

“In court, Estrada, stated her demands for “£55 ($73) million for property and a £1 ($1.3) million-a-year clothes budget, including £40,000 ($53,000) for fur coats, £109,000 ($146,000) for haute couture dresses and £21,000 ($28,000) for shoes every year.”

Although Juffali’s lawyers estimate that his accumulated wealth sits at over $865 million, Estrada’s legal team states that Juffali’s worth is closer to $11 billion.

As the Telegraph shares, this case is shaping up to be the most expensive and most “acrimonious” in British legal history. In what seems like a ridiculous reason for a meltdown in the witness box, the publication shares that Estrada noted a conversation she had with her daughter the previous night to the appearance in court.

“Ms Estrada broke down in the witness box after telling the court how she had received a call the previous night from her teenage daughter in Zurich who said: ‘Mummy, you are going to make me a poor girl.'”

As stated, the former model rejected her ex-husband’s offer of £37 million in cash and assets to sustain her. Estrada explained during cross-examination that this offer would not allow her to sustain her “ultra-wealthy” lifestyle following her divorce.

Christina then claimed that her rejection of the offer and ambition to seek the $262 million is all due to her wish to “stand up for women.” Estrada states that although her life may be perceived as “extraordinary, wonderful, magical,” it was actually a “hard life full of responsibilities.”

The divorce case is even more intriguing due to the reason for the split. It all comes down to 61-year-old Dr. Juffali having married a 25-year-old Lebanese presenter in 2012 while still married to Estrada. Juffali, now sick with terminal cancer, is too ill to make appearances for the settlement, as the Telegraph notes.

“Dr Juffali, 60, who has terminal cancer and is too ill to give evidence in court, had previously failed in his attempt to have the case thrown out on the grounds he had diplomatic immunity because of his unlikely official position as St Lucia’s representative to the International Maritime Organisation.”

The marriage to the 25-year-old at the same time Juffali was married to Estrada is permissible under Saudi Arabian law. In a statement, France Hughes, the attorney for Ms. Estrada, makes note of the manner Juffali’s denying Estrada the amount she seeks is humiliating to his former wife.

“The tactics deployed by Dr Juffali’s legal team have the sole aim of publicly humiliating Ms Estrada, whose claim for £196m represents a tiny proportion of his wealth and a very significant downgrade on the standard of living to which she and her daughter became accustomed to during the marriage.”

[Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images]

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