Many Kansas readers may have been among others throughout the country who closely followed news stories regarding Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s divorce. The high asset divorce involved billions of dollars in assets, and analysts say Bezos’s former wife, MacKenzie, knew what she was doing when she surrendered her shares in two companies in exchange for a 25% ownership in Amazon. She is now one of the world’s wealthiest people.
Bezos owns many companies, including The Washington Post newspaper and also Blue Origin, a space exploration company. When he and his wife divorced, she agreed to surrender her stakes in these two businesses. At this time, MacKenzie Bezos’s net worth is estimated at more than $47 billion.
Like most states, Kansas operates under equitable property division guidelines. This means that all marital property is divided fairly in a divorce. However, it does not necessarily mean the split will be 50/50. The Bezos’ settlement demonstrates that it is not always the number of assets that is most important but the value of the assets in question.
Even in a high asset divorce, the typical Kansas couple is not going to have billions of dollars to haggle over in court. Still, many cases are complex and difficult to resolve without experienced legal guidance and support. This is why a concerned spouse does well to connect with an experienced family law attorney before signing a property division agreement. A main goal of such an attorney is to protect a client’s rights and financial interests of the client, in both the short and long-term.
