This is what happens if Donald Trump and Melania divorce - legally Trump has boarded things up well
For the time being it is a hypothetical scenario, but from a legal point of view it is an interesting case. What would happen if President Donald Trump got divorced from his wife Melania?
President Trump and First Lady Melania find themselves in the most stressful marriage situation a couple can find themselves in. They are constantly in the spotlight and must continuously account for every action.
The White House has never experienced the divorce of a sitting president and his wife, so there is no roadmap. But it is known from the past how Donald Trump deals with divorces.
Donald Trump believes in marriage on a prenuptial agreement. His past breakups may shed light on what he and Melania have agreed.
Trump is no stranger to a prenuptial agreement, given the size of his assets, three marriages and two divorces.
"It's an ugly, harsh and painful tool," Trump said earlier about the agreement that lays down what belongs to whom and what things go to whom in the event of a divorce. “Believe me, there is nothing nice about it. But there will come a time when you have to say: Dear darling, I think you are fantastic and I care about you, but if it doesn't work out between us then this is what you are entitled to.
Such contracts may be for money, real estate, or anything the future spouses deem valuable enough to provide contractual protection.
An agreement on the divorce terms can be adjusted over time to be in line with any growing equity. These types of agreements are often secret until the moment that the actual divorce comes.
Trump's divorce agreement with his second wife Marla Maples in 1999 was mainly aimed at avoiding an embarrassing public mud fight. In doing so, Trump learned from the problems that arose during his first divorce from Ivana Trump in 1991.
A copy of Trump and Maples' prenuptial agreement came into the hands of Vanity Fair. It showed that Trump is not averse to drawing hard lines in the sand, including ending alimony as soon as the child gets a job or enters military service, and sanctions when the (ex) -wife is kicked out of school. marriage.
Trump's personal preferences are respected by Melania, according to what Trump told gossip columnist Liz Smith. Negotiations successful, Trump reported on the prenuptial agreement he made with Melania. “And the great thing is that she agrees. She knows I want that. ”
The divorce terms were likely adjusted just before Melania moved into the White House, says a divorce expert.
The White House is an unexpected event in the life of the Trump couple. It is not unlikely that the divorce conditions have changed.
According to Jacqueline Newman, divorce expert at law firm Berkman Bottger Newman & Schein, Melania likely "tightened up" when she learned she was going to be a first lady.
"No matter how much money she would have received under the old contract, I think she wants to increase that amount significantly," says Newman. “If they get a divorce now or when Donald is no longer president, she has to do with things like security. A lot of things are different for her than if she just stayed Mrs. Trump. ”
Their only son Barron could also be in the contract.
Since Barron is only 13 years old, the divorce agreement will also cover him. Until he is 21. The contact arrangement with his parents is also recorded, as is financial support until he is of age.
When he divorced Ivana, Trump was required to pay $ 650,000 in child support annually for their three children. Under their divorce agreement, according to The New York Times.
Under Trump's divorce agreement with Maples, he had to pay $ 100,000 in child support annually for their daughter Tiffany. Until she was 21 years old, or until she had a job, joined the military or joined the Peace Corps.
Another first lady should come.
First lady is not an official position, so a president can assign this role to someone else at will. Even when they don't have an intimate partner relationship.
Former presidents who were single or widowed appointed their nieces or daughters first lady.
Trump's choice for a new first lady is not difficult to guess: it would most likely be his eldest daughter Ivanka.
Ivanka is already a government adviser and in that capacity attends official and international meetings.
Read more: From rich kid to presidential daughter: the crazy life of Ivanka Trump
Their shared penthouse in Trump Tower - of course something has to be done with that too.
In the event of a divorce, Trump would have to arrange a home for Melania and Barron.
And since Melania has insisted that Barron finish school in New York before moving to Washington, she will probably also value that he finish school in Washington before they leave there.
The first lady also has some real estate that could be involved in a divorce deal. In January 2016, Melania bought space in the Trump Tower for $ 1.5 million.
Even when the marriage is officially dissolved, Melania should probably remain silent about her life with Trump. And especially about their time in Washington.
According to Vanity Fair, Marla Maples had to promise at the time that she would not publish anything about her marriage to Trump: “No letter, diary, note, article, interview, memory, photo, description or representation in any form, fictional or not, regarding to the details of the marriage. ”
Now involved in far more sensitive events than Donald Trump's previous wives, Melania is unlikely to join former Trump aides and confidants who made revelations about the boss after they left the White House.
