A Los Angeles judge has ordered that Mel B pay her estranged husband Stephen Belafonte a reported $40,000 (£30,529) per month in spousal support.

Despite the bulk of the star's multi-million pound fortune already being spent during their 10-year marriage, Belafonte has allegedly requested that she pay him spousal support so that he can afford his basic living costs, like food.

The court order also includes a separate £106,813 ($140,000) payment for his legal fees as divorce proceedings continue. Judge Lawrence P Riff made the order at the LA Superior Court yesterday (July 14).

Belafonte, 42, has a temporary restraining order against him after he reportedly became violent towards Mel B, punching her in the lip and splitting it, trying to choke her, and beating her up on more than one occasion. He allegedly flew into fits of rage with jealousy after she'd appeared on Dancing With The Stars and the closing ceremony with the Spice Girls at the London Olympics in 2012. 

Judge Riff wrote: 'The Court has considered carefully Brown's allegations... that she suffered serious, debilitating abuse at the hands of Belafonte resulting in bodily injury and profound emotional distress.' 

Belafonte also reportedly claimed that he was the son of the American star Harry Belafonte. It was only after the couple got hitched that Mel B discovered that he had lied, making her the perfect example of why celebrities especially need to fully check who people are purporting to be, before inviting them into their lives. Furthermore, her estranged film producer husband allegedly had an affair with and got their nanny pregnant, but despite this, he forced Mel B to continue employing the nanny.

The popular British star reportedly earns around $249,000 (£190,000) a month by being a judge on America's Got Talent, but in a shocking twist regarding the divorce battle, which indicates the strain Mel B's marriage to Belafonte put on her wealth, Companies House accounts show that she has only been left with $1259 (£961) in her Moneyspider Production company.

Although the singer does reportedly own 20% of Spice Girls Limited - which held £109,987 as of August 31, 2016 - her fellow bandmates own the remainder.

She is also reported to own 16% of Octopus Direct along with the other Spice Girls and music mogul Simon Fuller, but the company only held £10,549 as of August 31 in 2016.