Celebrity Mound

Madonna and Guy Ritchie were granted a preliminary decree of divorce Friday.

Neither appeared at the brief court session in which “Ciccone M L v Ritchie G S” was one of 17 cases given a preliminary decree. After six weeks and a day, the divorce can become final.

The decree said the divorce was granted on the basis of Ritchie’s “unreasonable behavior,” but did not elaborate.

The American pop star married the British film director eight years ago.

British news media reported, without identifying the sources of their information, that the celebrity couple had reached a settlement that would see the pop superstar keep the majority of her estimated 300 million pound ($445 million) fortune.

Reports in the Evening Standard and the Times of London said the couple had also reached a deal regarding their two children: Rocco, 8, and David Banda, 3, who was adopted from Malawi in 2006.

The newspapers said the two boys will split their time between Britain and the United States, while Lourdes – Madonna’s 12-year-old daughter from a previous relationship with personal trainer Carlos Leon – will live with her mother in America.

Requests for comment from representatives for the couple were not returned.

An agreement on terms would avert an expensive courtroom battle like the one between former Beatle Paul McCartney and model Heather Mills. Mills has said the media coverage of the rancorous divorce had pushed her to the brink of suicide; McCartney compared the process to going through hell.

Madonna and Ritchie, director of “Snatch” and “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” married in December 2000 at Skibo Castle in the Scottish Highlands.

Madonna and Ritchie announced last month they were divorcing. They own homes in London, Los Angeles and New York, and a 1,200-acre (480 hectare) retreat in England.