Tag Archive for: maintenance

Millions More Demanded in Kelsey Grammer Divorce

Kelsey Grammer, the actor best known for his portrayal of Dr. Frasier Crane, has had a tremendously successful career in television. He played the role of Frasier Crane for 20 years, 11 of which were on the NBC sitcom “Frasier.” At the peak of his earning power on “Frasier,” Grammer earned $700,000 per episode. “Frasier” ran from 1993 to 2004 and Grammer married his third wife, Camille Donatacci in 1997.

Many people credit Donatacci with helping Grammer turn his acting earnings into an even larger fortune through strategic investments in real estate and establishing Grammnet, a television production company, which has produced several television shows including NBC’s “Medium.” It is estimated that Grammer’s net worth has expanded to between $100 and $120 million.

Grammer and Donatacci married in 1997 and have two children together. However, due to reports of an extra-marital affair, Donatacci filed for divorce from Grammer in July 2010. The couple did not sign a prenuptial agreement, which may prove very costly for Grammer.

Grammer is interested in settling this divorce quickly because he wishes to remarry as soon as he can. However, the issue of marital property division is proving to be an obstacle to settlement. Grammer had offered a settlement of $30 million.

Just before Christmas, Ms. Donatacci rejected that settlement offer because she believes community property law entitles her to $50 million of the estimated $100 million he earned during their 13-year marriage and that she is entitled to her fair share as a cofounder of Grammnet Productions. Additionally, Donatacci is requesting child support and spousal maintenance, which Grammer’s offer reportedly did not include.

Sources:

Huffington Post, “Camille Grammer Demands $50 Million In Divorce Settlement: Report,” 12/30/2010

The Telegraph, “Kelsey Grammer facing large divorce pay out,” Nick Allen, 12/29/2010

Wisconsin Supreme Court to Decide Important Divorce Issue

How professional goodwill should be considered by a court when it is calculating spousal maintenance and marital property division is one of the more hotly debated issues in family law. Courts across the nation have come to different conclusions on the issue. Some courts will count professional goodwill only once for either maintenance or property division. However, other courts will use goodwill to determine both property division amounts and again for calculating spousal maintenance (sometimes called alimony.) At least one Wisconsin Court of Appeals has decided that business goodwill can be counted twice.

This last July, the Court of Appeals decided the case of McReath v. McReath, which allowed business goodwill to be counted twice. This month, the Wisconsin Supreme Court accepted review of the McReath case.

This case will have important ramifications for divorcing professionals throughout Wisconsin. Goodwill is a concept that broadly encompasses the intangible assets of a business, including customer loyalty. Even though goodwill is relatively hard to define with precision, Wisconsin courts will include it when dividing marital property.

In the McReath case, the husband is a dentist with an orthodontics practice. The McReaths were married for 20 years, and he had acquired the practice early in their marriage. In the marital property division contest, the trial court accepted the wife’s valuation of the practice at $1.058 million and it granted her half of that amount.

The trial court also awarded the wife $16,000 per month in maintenance for twenty years. The husband argued that this amounted in a double counting of his professional goodwill, and therefore requested that the property division amount be adjusted downward. The court of appeals rejected this argument, but did note that Wisconsin law is somewhat ambiguous on this subject. By accepting the McReath case, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has the opportunity to resolve the uncertainty in Wisconsin property division and maintenance law.

Sources:

State Bar of Wisconsin, “Wisconsin Supreme Court adds eight cases to docket, including high-capacity well dispute,” 12/16/2010

McReath v. McReath, 789 N.W.2d 89 (Wis. App. 2010)

When are lifetime alimony awards appropriate?

Alimony, or spousal maintenance as it is called in Wisconsin, is one of those concepts of family law that has been around for quite some time. In law in general, and in family law specifically, some of the oldest concepts are the slowest to change. With that in mind, we would like to tell you about a recent alimony case that has made all the way to the Supreme Court of Tennessee.

The Supreme Court of Tennessee is now considering making changes to the state’s alimony award by putting an end to lifetime payments. Some attorneys are supportive of the change stating that lifetime alimony payments discourage individuals to remain married. The case that has reached the Supreme Court involves a couple that had been married for more than 20 years.

The wife was an information technology employee who made more than $70,000 per year. The husband was a controller at a large company, making nearly $140,000 per year. Their two children were grown so there were no child custody issues. The divorce began in 2007 and was appealed after a trial. On appeal, the state Court of Appeals ordered the man to pay his ex-wife a monthly alimony of $1,250.

The ex-wife claimed that, early in their marriage, she had helped put her husband through college and that he would not be earning such a high yearly salary without her previous support. She also claimed that her ex-husband had initiated the breakup, entitling her to alimony.

The husband denies that he caused the divorce and does not agree with the court’s ruling. He has said that he should not have to pay alimony since his ex-wife is educated and employed and will have no difficulty maintaining her previous lifestyle.

This type of alimony has become less common over the past few decades and this couple’s situation particularly seems to be an unlikely candidate for lifetime alimony. Lifetime alimony awards are generally reserved for an older individual who had been married for an extended period of time and had sacrificed a career for the marriage. Nevertheless, trial judges still have discretion in the amount of alimony, if any, they order. Oral argument in the case is scheduled for later this spring.

Source: The Tennessean, “TN Supreme Court considers change in alimony payments,” 3/10/2011