Divorce of convenience

From WikiAlpha
Jump to: navigation, search

The term divorce of convenience is used when a married couple get divorced in order to shield assets, or in order to qualify for a situation barred by their marriages. Sometimes the phrase is used figuratively, to refer to splits or breaches between political groups, or business enterprises, which are largely for appearance.[1]

Divorces to work around laws intended to counter nepotism

In 1994 the Washington Post referred to the divorce plans of Nicaragua's President's son-in law, Antonio Lacayo, as a "divorce of convenience".[2] He planned to run for President, himself, when the term of Violeta Chamorro ended. However laws intended to curb nepotism disallowed his run. Once he was divorced he would no longer, technically, be related to the President.

According to the Washington Post, the Holy See denounced the plans since he and his wife confirmed they remained in love, and would continue to live together.[2]

On June 17, 2011, the Christian Science Monitor reported that Guatemala's President's wife, Sandra Torres, filed for divorce, so she could put herself forward as a candidate for President after the term of her husband, Alvaro Colom, ended.[3] They described this as a "divorce of convenience".

Divorces to shield assets

In 2013 the Chicago Sun Times reported it had acquired records that showed that Chicago area judge, Maureen P. McIntyre, divorced her husband, Raymond X. Henehan, in what the paper called a "divorce of convenience".[4] Even though they divorced the pair were still living together, eight years later. The divorce took place shortly before Henehan was hit with substantial fines for tax evasion, and before a lawsuit from a former client closed against him. The paper quoted creditor David Matthiesen, who was still owed over $450,000, who accused the couple of a faux divorce, to protect jointly owned marital assets from being subject to his court-ordered payments. The couple's four homes were all awarded to McIntyre, in their mutually agreed divorce settlement.

In October, 2020, Washington County District Judge Juanita Freeman rejected the first divorce settlement terms offered by Derek Chauvin, the Minnesota police officer charged with killing George Floyd, to his estranged wife.[5][6] Freeman's ruling referred to the proposed asset split as bearing the "badges of fraud". The Star Tribune quoted several Minnesota lawyers to help them explain Freeman's ruling to their readers. According to local attorney Marc Beyer:

“This is just speculation, but it’s possible that the [agreement] was intentionally drafted to get assets out of Chauvin’s name in anticipation of a civil judgment against him from the estate of George Floyd. That may be what the court is getting at when it references ‘badges of fraud.’ ”[5]

According to the Star Tribune several local attorneys speculated the term "divorce of convenience" applied to the Chauvin divorce.[5][6]

Ghislaine Maxwell, a close associate of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, is said to have initiated divorce to free her husband, Scott Borgerson, of the financial and privacy consequences of the charges she faced.[7][8]

References

  1. ↑ Robert Andrews (2012-12-03). "News Corp.’s divorce of convenience: publishing loses Hollywood’s embarce". Yahoo Finance. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/news-corp-divorce-convenience-publishing-152546248.html. Retrieved 2021-01-27. "In a move that makes it sound more like Fox Group is being separated from News Corp than News Corp is being split in two, the news and book publishing assets will remain named “News Corporation”, while TV studios, movie studios and pay-TV platforms become “Fox Group”." 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Douglas Farah (1994-11-27). "Political twist in Nicaragua: The divorce of convenience". Washington Post (Managua, Nicaragua). https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/11/27/political-twist-in-nicaragua-the-divorce-of-convenience/87aeaa2a-3af6-4299-a53d-3ce9c6934139/. Retrieved 2021-01-22. "Tucked in among a series of constitutional reforms approved last week by the legislature -- measures that would alter the balance of power among the branches of government -- was an item banning relatives of the president from running for office. Such a restriction would bar Lacayo from seeking the presidency." 
  3. ↑ Ezra Fieser (2011-06-17). "Guatemala's presidential divorce of convenience". Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20150923214446/https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2011/0617/Guatemala-s-presidential-divorce-of-convenience. Retrieved 2021-01-22. "Torres divorced Colom to skirt a constitutional provision banning family members of sitting president from running for the following election." 
  4. ↑ Chris Fusco (2013-02-18). "Vanecko Judge's 'Divorce of Convenience'". Chicago Sun Times. http://projects.suntimes.com/koschman/latest-news/vanecko-judges-divorce-of-convenience/. Retrieved 2021-01-27. "The McHenry County judge presiding over the high-profile involuntary manslaughter case of former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s nephew averted financial disaster six years ago when she divorced her husband, a since-disbarred attorney who owed $750,000 in judgments to law clients and the IRS, according to interviews and records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times." 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Chao Xiong (2020-11-20). "Judge rejects proposed Derek Chauvin divorce agreement, citing possible fraud". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 2021-01-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20210120073632/https://www.startribune.com/judge-rejects-proposed-derek-chauvin-divorce-agreement-citing-possible-fraud/573132961/. Retrieved 2021-01-22. "Divorces of convenience aren’t unheard of, attorneys said. They’re sometimes filed to protect assets when someone enters assisted living or is dealing with health problems that could result in exorbitant bills." 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chao Xiong (2021-01-20). "Derek Chauvin's estranged wife would receive most of their assets in proposed divorce settlement". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 2021-01-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20210121044158/https://www.startribune.com/derek-chauvin-s-estranged-wife-would-receive-most-of-their-assets-in-proposed-divorce-settlement/600012651/. Retrieved 2021-01-22. "Several divorce attorneys have said Freeman's October ruling fueled speculation about a divorce of convenience." 
  7. ↑ Josie Ensor (2020-12-18). "Ghislaine Maxwell was in process of divorcing husband, prosecution claims as it slams fresh bail bid". The Daily Telegraph. https://news.yahoo.com/ghislaine-maxwell-process-divorcing-husband-230939327.html. 
  8. ↑ Oisin Sweeney (2020-12-24). "Ghislaine Maxwell Wanted Divorce “to Protect” Businessman Husband". Euro Weekly News. https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2020/12/24/ghislaine-maxwell-wanted-divorce-to-protect-businessman-husband/. Retrieved 2021-01-27. "Lawyers for Maxwell say the disgraced socialite considered a divorce of convenience from her husband Scott Borgerson “to protect him from the terrible consequences of being associated with her” according to an appeal request filed in a Manhattan federal court." 
Cite error: <ref> tag with name "cis2014-06-18" defined in <references> is not used in prior text.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikialpha.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Divorce_of_convenience&oldid=212976"