Bill Gates and Ex-Wife Melinda Are Now Officially Divorced After 27 Years, No Prenup

Bill Gates and Ex-Wife Melinda Are Now Officially Divorced After 27 Years, No Prenup

  • Bill and Melinda's 27-year marriage ended on Monday after a court in Washington state approved their divorce
  • Melinda did not ask for any spousal support and will not be changing her second name
  • Decisions about properties were in a separate filing, and it is believed Melinda will be getting half of Bill Gates' wealth since they had no prenup

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One of the world's former richest couples, Bill Gates and Melinda, have finally ended their divorce case and are now single.

Bill Gates and Melinda officially divorced on Monday.
Melinda French will also keep her ex-husband's name. Photo: melindafrenchgates.
Source: Instagram

Their 27-year marriage ended on Monday, August 2, after a King County court in Washington state approved their divorce, according to NBC News.

The paperwork noted that Melinda would not be changing her second name and was not offered any spousal support, which she said was unnecessary for her original filing.

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There were also decisions to be made about the division of their property, which was in a separate agreement not included in the Monday ruling.

According to TMZ, the divorce settlement could leave Melinda over $65 billion richer, with her ex-hubby's nett worth estimated to be more than $130 billion.

Melinda files for divorce

Melinda filed for divorce way back in May, as reported by Briefly News, and there was no prenup in the filing.

In a joint statement shared on their personal social media account, the former couple noted their decision was made after "a great deal of thought" and putting a lot of work into their relationship.

They promised to continue working together in the foundation but felt they would not work as a couple.

Bill and Melinda noted the reason was they "no longer believe we can grow together as a couple" in the next phase of their lives.

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Money for their 3 kids - Melinda wants to leave them more

Briefly News also reported that Melinda is willing to leave their kids richer than the $10 million their dad promised to reward them.

According to Page Six, divorce experts noted a clue in Melinda's divorce filling that showed she was angling at changing their kid's inheritance.

The mother of three is reported to have named top trust and estate lawyers as her representatives in the divorce suit.

According to revered divorce attorneys Harriet Newman Cohen and Martha Cohen, it is unusual for trust and estate lawyers to be named in a divorce.

Bill and Melinda share three children: Jennifer, 25, Rory, 21, and Phoebe, 18.

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Kelly Lippke avatar

Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.