MIAMI - German billionaire Alexander Otto is under court order to pay $876,650 to the lawyers representing his wife, Carrie, in her suit for divorce.

Florida Circuit Judge Gerald Hubbart's two-page ruling directed Otto to pay the money within 30-days of the date of his Wednesday order.

But Otto can ask the court to be credit this payment against any sum he may be required to pay in any final divorce decree, the judge said.

No date has been scheduled for the divorce trial in the suit filed in January by his estranged wife. She is living in Pinecrest, southwest of Miami, with the couple's 3-year-old son, Mattias.

Hubbart said he was awarding the attorney fees because "the Petitioner (Carrie Otto) is not currently in a position to pay her attorney fees and costs. The Respondent (Otto) is."

His ruling split the money into two parts: $676,650 for work her lawyers already have done and $200,000 in fees and costs to pay for further work needing to be done.

The judge divided the money for past work among nine lawyers, ranging from a high of $240,000 down to $2,200. He based the fees on the lawyers' hourly rates and the hours they worked.

Samuel Burstyn, Carrie Otto's lead lawyer in her suit, was given $240,000 for 600 hours of so-far unpaid work at an hourly rate of $400. His co-counsel, A.J. Barranco was awarded $112,500 for 250 hours at a $450 hourly rate.

Hubbart did not specify how the $200,000 for further work is to be apportioned.

One of Otto's lawyers, Cynthia Greene, argued strenuously against any new money. She said that the wife's lawyers already had been awarded just over $1 million in fees and costs.

The major point of contention in the suit so far has been a prenuptial agreement signed by Carrie Otto just before the June 1994 marriage. It provided that she be paid $14 million if the marriage ends in divorce.

She and her lawyers are arguing that the prenuptial is fraudulent because Otto stated his net worth at $140 million when in reality it was about $3.5 billion. They want $700 million to $800 million as a settlement.

Otto's lawyers argue that Carrie Otto knew well what she was signing because of her training as a lawyer and from having recently completed a course in complex real estate transactions.