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Divorce is almost always a messy business, but certain settlements between former beloveds end up being downright absurd. Forget child custody, what happens when a couple has shared possession of a goat? Have a look at 10 examples of offbeat divorce settlements.
1. Now That’s a Breakup Record
Marvin Gaye was a tremendous singer, but he wasn’t always so great at keeping track of his personal finances. He spent lavishly, which meant that he often couldn’t cover his bills. He was having particularly big trouble footing the bill for his 1977 divorce from Anna Gordy, so Gaye’s lawyer worked out a novel settlement: Gaye would record a new album and give all of the royalties to Gordy as alimony. Gaye headed into the studio and recorded the double album Here, My Dear to fulfill this deal with Gordy. Unfortunately for Gordy, critics and audiences didn’t love Gaye’s divorce-themed concept album; although today’s critics praise the album it was the singer’s worst charting record of the 1970s.
2. Don’t Hassle His Attorney, Either
As part of actor David Hasselhoff’s 2008 divorce settlement with ex-wife Pamela Bach, he got to keep total possession of the nickname “Hoff” and the catchphrase “Don’t Hassle the Hoff.”
3. Let Us Now Divide Any Shared Organs
Earlier this year, Long Island’s Dr. Richard Batista made an odd request during his divorce: he wanted his cheating wife to return the kidney he’d given her. Dr. Batista gave his wife, Dawnell, a kidney in 2001 and as part of the messy divorce, he claimed that he would either like the organ or compensation of $1.5 million. Legal scholars were skeptical of Batista’s request given that a) organ donation is legally a gift, not a loan and b) losing her ex-husband’s kidney would have been ruinous for Dawnell Batista’s health.
4. If Only Divorce Lawyers Had Their Own Nobel
Nobel laureates may be some of the world’s smartest people, but even they can bungle their divorce settlements. Take Robert Lucas, the 1995 winner of the economics prize. As part of his 1988 divorce settlement, his ex-wife got half of the funds from any future Nobel win, so when Lucas picked up the prize in 1995, he forked over half of the cash to his ex. Lucas must have been particularly irritated that the divorce settlement clause actually expired in 1995, so if he had nabbed the Nobel in 1996 he wouldn’t have had to share his brainy booty.
Lucas could at least take comfort in knowing he was in good company. All of Albert Einstein’s prize money from his 1921 win in physics went to his ex-wife, Mileva Maric.
5. At Least This Is Equitable
Cambodian couple Moeun Sarim and Vat Navy had been married for 18 years when they decided to part ways last year. Husband Moeun accused his wife of infidelity, so he decided to take the whole “splitting everything 50-50” concept to its logical conclusion. Moeun had his family come over and cut away half of the couple’s 20’ x 24’ house. While his wife’s half of the marital home remained standing, he deconstructed his own portion and carried the building supplies back to his parents’ home.
6. Man Really Gets His Wife’s Goat
Australian Steve Killeen managed to get his ex-wife’s goat in their divorce. Literally. When Killeen and his wife split, he ended up with her pet goat, which he now takes for daily walks through Sydney.
7. Better Than Hotel Soaps
When hotelier Conrad Hilton married the younger Hungarian actress and beauty queen Zsa Zsa Gabor in 1942, the union raised some eyebrows. Eventually, Gabor got tired of Hilton and began sleeping with her stepson, Nicky. Hilton and Gabor ended up divorcing in 1947, and she picked up $275,000 in the process. Gabor later joked, “Conrad Hilton was very generous in the divorce settlement. He gave me 5,000 Gideon Bibles.”
8. Peter Sellers’ Timing Just a Little Off
In 1980, Peter Sellers was in the process of divorcing his fourth wife, Lynne Frederick, when he dropped dead from a sudden heart attack at the age of 54. Unfortunately for Sellers’ children, their father hadn’t gotten around to amending his will to reflect his cooling feelings for Frederick, and the divorce was not yet finalized. As a result, Frederick inherited Sellers’ £4.5 million estate and the rights to all of his work, while the Sellers children got a meager £750 each. Within six months Frederick was married again, this time to celebrity journalist David Frost, but that union only lasted a year.
9. Writer Keeps His Ex Close
Prolific Belgian author Georges Simenon requested an odd stipulation in his 1949 divorce from his wife Tigy. Simenon’s ex got a large alimony, one she later said was comparable to a top executive’s salary during the 1950s, but she had to live no more than six miles away from Simenon so he could always see his children.
10. Charles and Diana’s Divorce Is a Royal Pain
When Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorced in 1996, there were all sorts of odd assets to divvy up. For starters, there was the issue of titles. Diana lost the right to be called “Her Royal Highness,” a move that peerage experts said was unprecedented. She did, however, retain the right to live in Kensington Palace, her jewelry, and the right to entertain at St. James’s Palace with the Queen’s permission. While Diana also picked up a financial settlement of $22.5 million, she lost a variety of honorary military titles as well.
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Comments (12)
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Country singer John Anderson had a similar deal to that of Marvin Gaye. The royalties of his next song were to go to his ex wife. John set out intentionally to write “the worst country song ever written.”
He consequently wrote “Swingin’” which hit number one on the charts!
posted by Gordon Daily on 12-1-2009 at 11:05 am
RE Gordon:
I have heard that song alot on the local country station.. I wonder how he feels about probably having to sing it at every concert now since it became so popular, ha.
posted by Sarah in CA on 12-1-2009 at 1:12 pm
Contrary to the urban legend surrounding “Swingin”, he knew it would be a huge hit and did not hand over royalties from the song to his soon to be ex-wife as part of a divorce settlement. In fact, he delayed recording and releasing the song until after his divorce was final.
posted by Jeff - Canton, OH on 12-1-2009 at 1:44 pm
Whatever happened with the Batista’s (#3)?
Also #7 isn’t really that odd unless she actually did get 5,000 Gideon Bibles.
posted by Brit on 12-1-2009 at 2:36 pm
Brit: If I had to guess, considering the “earlier this year” bit, the divorce may be ongoing and the kidney gift/loan still pending.
posted by Sillstaw on 12-1-2009 at 4:18 pm
I heard that when Harrison Ford divorced his wife she was to get half of all royalties he received from movies he made while they were together, including Indiana Jones and The Fugitive.
posted by Lacey on 12-1-2009 at 5:00 pm
For #3, you might want to make that “allegedly cheating wife.” Probably not best to pass judgment on that one yourself… a divorcing husband will make a lot of allegations, not all necessarily true.
posted by Chris on 12-1-2009 at 5:22 pm
Here’s a follow up on the Batista case:
Referee Rejects Compensation for Kidney in Divorce Case
New York Law Journal
Vesselin Mitev
February 26, 2009
A Long Island, N.Y., surgeon’s bid to seek $1.5 million for the kidney he donated to his estranged wife “not only runs afoul” of public policy, but may expose him to criminal prosecution, a Nassau County, N.Y., court referee ruled Wednesday.
“At its core, the defendant’s claim inappropriately equates human organs with commodities,” Referee A. Jeffrey Grob wrote in Batista v. Batista, Jr., 201931/05. Grob noted that while the term “marital property” is “elastic and expansive … its reach, in this Court’s view, does not stretch into the ether and embrace, in contravention of this State’s public policy, human tissues or organs.”
The four-year-old divorce case between vascular surgeon Richard J. Batista Jr. and his wife, Dawnell C. Batista, gained worldwide notoriety in January when Dr. Batista and his attorney, Garden City, N.Y.’s Dominick Barbara, held a press conference announcing their intentions to seek compensation for the organ. Barbara petitioned the court for a stay to produce an expert who could testify as to the value of the organ.
Dr. Batista, who donated the kidney in 2001, claims his wife has hindered his efforts to see the couple’s three children, a charge she denies. Ms. Batista’s kidney failed as a “direct result” of her three pregnancies and she filed for divorce in 2005, according to a press release issued by her attorney, Douglas R. Rothkopf of Garden City.
Dr. Batista’s application to put a price on the kidney violated state law, Grob held, citing Public Health Law §4307, which makes it a felony for “any person to knowingly acquire … for valuable consideration any human organ for use in human transplantation.”
Thus, Dr. Battista’s effort to pursue “monetary compensation” for the kidney, expressed in an affirmation by Barbara, “may expose the defendant to criminal prosecution.”
A spokesman for Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen M. Rice said the office has not received any complaint regarding the case and said any comment would be “premature.”
The referee rejected Dr. Battista’s request to call an expert witness to value the kidney. He said the application also lacked a “chronology of the efforts made to retain an expert … and the lack of specificity is compounded by the absence of documentary corroboration,” citing Winslow v. Pyramid Company/Aviation Mall, 248 AD2d 922.
But, Grob held, barring Dr. Batista from offering economic proof of the value of his organ gift does “not suggest that the sacrifices, magnanimity and devotion, which arguably and logically attend, are beyond the pale or lack relevancy.”
In a statement, Barbara called the ruling a “complete victory” for his client, as such proof would be taken into account in deciding the remaining issues at trial, he said.
The referee also declined to disqualify law guardian Jill C. Stone, an application predicated on “an apparent fundamental misconception of the proper role and function of an attorney appointed … to represent the interests of the children whose parents are embroiled in matrimonial litigation.”
Here, there was “no indication” Stone, of Bellmore, N.Y., had failed to diligently represent the children’s interests, engaged in intentional misconduct, or that a conflict of interest had developed, Grob wrote.
Stone did not return calls for comment.
The decision was “not a surprise to any right-thinking person,” Rothkopf said in an interview, lauding the ruling as “an excellent one.”
Rothkopf declined to comment further, only saying that the “facts will speak for themselves” at the upcoming divorce trial, also in front of Grob. The issues will be limited to division of the marital assets, maintenance and child support.
Supreme Court Justice Vito M. DeStefano is presiding over several related matters, including a contempt motion against Mr. Batista for allegedly failing to pay child support and whether to close the courtroom for the divorce trial if a media blackout would be in the best interests of the children.
Those requests are still pending.
posted by Chris on 12-1-2009 at 5:47 pm
I see Steve and his goats all the time near my house. He often takes them to the pub, they eat some grass outside while he has a schooner.
posted by Kel on 12-1-2009 at 7:20 pm
Why do people get married again? 50% end in divorce…the other 50% in death. Marriage is definitely not for me.
posted by CJ on 12-1-2009 at 7:49 pm
I think John Anderson succeeded….”Swingin’” is the worst country song ever.
posted by Lynley on 12-1-2009 at 10:00 pm
Actually, CJ, I believe the statistic is that 50% of marriages (in the US) don’t make it to the 5 year mark. After that, your chances of getting divorced drop consistently every year. (But we all know that 49.3% of all statistics are made up on the spot.)
posted by AmyD on 12-2-2009 at 9:37 am