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http://www.newsmax.com/us/gay_governor_divorce/2007/09/14/32834.html
McGreevey: Wife's Demands Excessive
Friday, September 14, 2007
TRENTON, N.J. -- James McGreevey says that he cannot afford the perks he and
his estranged wife enjoyed while he was governor, and that she is not
entitled to continue to live the lifestyle of a first lady at his expense.
McGreevey, who disclosed he was gay while in office, filed court papers
Friday responding to Dina Matos McGreevey's demand this week for a bigger
monthly support check _ $4,000 a month, nearly four times what she now
receives.
In her filing in Union County Superior Court, Matos McGreevey says she is
entitled to live a lifestyle closer to that of first lady than she is now
able to afford. She and the couple's 5-year-old daughter live in a modest
three-bedroom house, while her husband and his partner live in a mansion
with gardens, she says.
McGreevey does not deny living in a nice house but says he does not own it
and stays there with his partner, Australian money manager Mark O'Donnell.
In his filing, the former governor says he and Dina mostly lived in
apartments while they were married. Even while in the governor's mansion,
they used only a small area as their private quarters, he says.
"The title does not obligate the first lady to be chauffeured or have
bodyguards or any of the security attendant to the title," says McGreevey,
noting that his wife chose to receive those perks, paid for by taxpayers.
Matos McGreevey, who earns $82,000 at Columbus Hospital in Newark, says she
needs $11,162 per month to meet her expenses. She calls McGreevey's current
monthly support payment of $1,129 per month inadequate, "given his income
and lifestyle."
In the papers released Friday, McGreevey's lawyer offers to increase the
support payments to $1,691 a month.
McGreevey's income has fluctuated since he left office but has averaged
about $155,000 a year for the past five years. He says he has not been able
to pull in the kind of money ex-governors can usually expect because of the
circumstances under which he left office.
He announced in August 2004 that he was "a gay American" and would resign.
He said he had been the target of a blackmail threat from a former lover.
Superior Court Judge Karen M. Cassidy, who is presiding over the couple's
contentious divorce, will hear arguments on support and other matters Sept.
21.
When the McGreeveys last appeared in court together in July, Cassidy urged
them to settle their case rather than bring it to trial, telling the pair
they had neither the financial means or emotional fortitude to endure a long
divorce trial.
The McGreeveys officially split up when they moved out of the governor's
mansion in November 2004.
McGreevey: Wife's Demands Excessive
Friday, September 14, 2007
TRENTON, N.J. -- James McGreevey says that he cannot afford the perks he and
his estranged wife enjoyed while he was governor, and that she is not
entitled to continue to live the lifestyle of a first lady at his expense.
McGreevey, who disclosed he was gay while in office, filed court papers
Friday responding to Dina Matos McGreevey's demand this week for a bigger
monthly support check _ $4,000 a month, nearly four times what she now
receives.
In her filing in Union County Superior Court, Matos McGreevey says she is
entitled to live a lifestyle closer to that of first lady than she is now
able to afford. She and the couple's 5-year-old daughter live in a modest
three-bedroom house, while her husband and his partner live in a mansion
with gardens, she says.
McGreevey does not deny living in a nice house but says he does not own it
and stays there with his partner, Australian money manager Mark O'Donnell.
In his filing, the former governor says he and Dina mostly lived in
apartments while they were married. Even while in the governor's mansion,
they used only a small area as their private quarters, he says.
"The title does not obligate the first lady to be chauffeured or have
bodyguards or any of the security attendant to the title," says McGreevey,
noting that his wife chose to receive those perks, paid for by taxpayers.
Matos McGreevey, who earns $82,000 at Columbus Hospital in Newark, says she
needs $11,162 per month to meet her expenses. She calls McGreevey's current
monthly support payment of $1,129 per month inadequate, "given his income
and lifestyle."
In the papers released Friday, McGreevey's lawyer offers to increase the
support payments to $1,691 a month.
McGreevey's income has fluctuated since he left office but has averaged
about $155,000 a year for the past five years. He says he has not been able
to pull in the kind of money ex-governors can usually expect because of the
circumstances under which he left office.
He announced in August 2004 that he was "a gay American" and would resign.
He said he had been the target of a blackmail threat from a former lover.
Superior Court Judge Karen M. Cassidy, who is presiding over the couple's
contentious divorce, will hear arguments on support and other matters Sept.
21.
When the McGreeveys last appeared in court together in July, Cassidy urged
them to settle their case rather than bring it to trial, telling the pair
they had neither the financial means or emotional fortitude to endure a long
divorce trial.
The McGreeveys officially split up when they moved out of the governor's
mansion in November 2004.
