Rudy Giuliani, 74-year-old Trump confidant and former Mayor of New York City, is headed for his third divorce. This one is getting nasty. His soon-to-be ex-wife Judy Nathan is claiming her former husband’s lavish spending is harming her quality of life. She claims that Giuliani has spent $900,000 on personal expenses over a six-month period, including $12,000 on cigars and more than $7,000 on writing pens, to name just a few items.
Nathan is demanding Giuliani pay expenses for homes in Palm Beach, Florida, and in Southampton on Long Island’s East End, in addition to a salary for her personal assistant and bills for her elderly mother in assisted living. She wants $63,000 a month in spousal support.
Giuliani claims that since he left his lucrative law practice with mega firm Greenberg Traurig, his income has disappeared. He says he’s working for free on the Mueller investigation in defense of President Trump.
During the first hearing, the presiding judge urged the two parties to save money on legal fees by resolving their financial difficulties amicably. However, with so much at stake, it’s hard to imagine that will happen.
High profile divorces involving wealthy parties often ends up costing an exorbitant amount in legal fees because the two sides are entrenched and won’t talk to each other.
Giuliani’s claims of poverty are hard to believe and his ex-wife has reason to ask for what she rightly deserves. It probably doesn’t help matters that Giulani is already allegedly spending lavishly on a new girlfriend. Giuliani spent over $286,000 on his alleged mistress, $447,938 “for his own enjoyment” and $165,000 on travel for himself, according to Nathan’s attorney Bernard Clair. This won’t help him in the divorce proceedings and will damage his public reputation.
An effective divorce attorney will spend the majority of the time trying to resolve the dispute through negotiation. A bitter war of attrition usually means both parties lose. It’s in the best interests of everyone involved to resolve this quickly.