- Bill and Melinda Gates never signed a prenup, according to TMZ’s divorce petitions.
- The couple announced their split on Monday. Bill Gates is valued at $ 146 billion.
- Instead, the couple divide their property and debts according to a separation agreement.
- You can find more articles on Insider’s business page.
Bill and Melinda Gates never signed a marriage agreement, but they do have a “separation contract,” which sets out how they will split their property if they split, TMZ reported Monday.
The philanthropic couple announced on Monday that they would get divorced after 27 years of marriage.
According to Bloomberg, Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and owner of 1% of the tech company, is valued at $ 146 billion. This makes him the fourth richest person in the world. The divorce settlement could be one of the largest there has ever been.
TMZ shared a copy of Gates’ divorce petitions asking if the couple had signed a pre-contract, separation contract, or community property agreement.
The couple said they had a separation agreement that the court was supposed to enforce but didn’t say they had a preliminary agreement.
Continue reading: How the CEO of a Bill Gates-backed battery startup convinced the tech mogul to invest in its solid-state tech
A prenup is a legal agreement that couples can sign before getting married. It determines what will happen to a couple’s assets if they divorce or one of them dies, and can also set financial expectations for a marriage.
A separation agreement or contract is a private legal document that a couple signs when they want to spend time apart and live apart. It lists their rights and obligations, such as child support and custody, and is signed without the involvement of the court.
Sometimes a separation agreement is followed by divorce, but some couples use this as an opportunity to repair their marriage, according to the New York City Bar.
In their divorce petitions, the couple requested the division of real estate, personal property, and debts in accordance with their separation agreement. Melinda did not seek marital assistance.
The couple also said their marriage was “irretrievably broken” and asked the court to end the marriage on the date specified in their separation agreement, even though that date was not specified in the divorce petitions shared by TMZ.
In documents filed in King County, Washington, on Monday, Melinda is listed as the petitioner and Bill as the respondent. The documents contain a hearing on April 4, 2022.
The Gates divorce settlement could be one of the largest to ever take place, Insider’s Katie Canales reported. When Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie split in 2019, their bill was $ 38 billion. That made MacKenzie Scott the third richest woman in the world.
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