Here's to "equality"

[VARIETY]

I have divorced friends. Some of the people here are divorced.

Is there anyone who doesn't find this astonishing, in light of what the settlement would have been if the husband had been having an affair?

(Note: Another AP article lists the size of the award as $40 million.)

Link

Judge awards $24 million in Conn. divorce

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Howard and Susan Sosin had everything that money could buy. They took exciting vacations, owned numerous homes, 18 cars and surrounded themselves with fine art.
But money, as the saying goes, doesn't buy happiness. Their divorce, granted Wednesday by a Bridgeport Superior Court judge, is the largest award in a state divorce case that has gone to trial, attorneys say. Legal experts said the case ranks among the largest in the nation.

"This is an unfortunate story of a family who, because of the husband's genius, accumulated substantial wealth and, notwithstanding all its effect, happiness eluded them," said Howard Sosin's attorney, Richard Albrecht.

Howard Sosin sued for divorce following allegations that his former wife had affairs with her rock-climbing guide and a man she met on a flight to China. Superior Court Judge Howard Owens awarded her $24 million of her husband's $168 million fortune.

Susan Sosin, 51, gets to keep the couple's $3.6 million Manhattan apartment, $2 million Utah ski house and $800,000 home in Wallkill, N.Y. But she has to vacate the couple's two mansions in Fairfield and three desert properties in Arizona.

The couple lived in a $16 million mansion in Fairfield, while their 14 servants live in a $5 million house nearby.

"The parties' marriage has been undeniably marred by the defendant's infidelity," the judge stated in his verdict. "Although her sexual relationship was not the sole cause of the breakdown, it did effectively terminate the marriage."

Susan Sosin's lawyer, Frederick Siegel of Stamford, said he hadn't seen the judge's decision and couldn't comment on it.

Legal experts, including Gaetano Ferro, who represented the former wife of ex-General Electric chief executive Jack Welch in their 2002 divorce, said the case ranks among the largest in the nation.

Among the assets Howard Sosin gets to keep are $89 million in bank accounts, 10 of the couple's 18 cars, $960,000 worth of private club memberships and $22 million in fine art.

In addition to the $24 million payment, Susan Sosin also keeps $6 million in her brokerage accounts, eight cars, and $2.9 million in jewelry, including a ruby piece her husband had bought for her but hadn't given to her prior to their divorce.

The couple met in 1978 when Howard Sosin was an assistant professor at Columbia University. At the time, she was married to another man and working in retail.

Howard Sosin in 1987 founded AIG Financial Products and served as its president and chief operating officer until 1993 when he terminated his association. Following litigation, he received $182 million from AIG.

While Howard Sosin was working, according to trial testimony, his wife took up heli-skiing, which involves ascending to a peak via helicopter before skiing down, and rock climbing.

While rock climbing in 1996, Susan Sosin admitted in testimony she became intimate with a guide. She testified it was a spontaneous and isolated occurrence.

During a flight to China in 2000, she met a married man, and that led to a lengthy affair, according to testimony.

Howard Sosin learned of his wife's relationships in February 2003 when, during an upgrade of their computer system, he found hundreds of e-mails between his wife and her lover, according to testimony.

---

Information from: Connecticut Post, http://www.connpost.com


(Published: March 24, 2005)

This reminds me of Flip Wilson's wife, who "gave up a promising career as a dental assistant" to marry him.

[maleficent]

Well... sadly you get what you pay for... I think the phrase once a cheater, always a cheater is appropriate here...

He's a dumbass for marrying her in the first place...

[Astrocloud]

Originally Posted by maleficent

Well... sadly you get what you pay for... I think the phrase once a cheater, always a cheater is appropriate here...

He's a dumbass for marrying her in the first place...

I have a tendancy to agree.

Although 24 Million certainly sounds like a lot -It is just a proportion of what the family owns. Considering that he didn't lose 1/2 -I think he is somewhat of a winner in this divorce.

[raveneye]

I don't understand how something like this can happen. Marriage is a legal contract with obligations. The most important obligation of both parties is to be faithful. If you cheat then you've broken the contract in the worst possible way and the other party owes you absolutely nothing. Doesn't matter whether you're male or female.

What this ruling is saying is that if you can marry someone who's rich, then you have it made for life regardless of how selfishly, hurftully, and destructively you behave.

If someone admits to cheating in a marriage then it should be essentially automatic that the spouse can divorce and pay nothing, perhaps other than some state-fixed amount that doesn't depend on the total value of the assets. There's simply no reason why this person needs $24 million.

Unemployment benefits are around $1K per month, and they last for less than a year in most states. That sounds about right for a divorce settlement in a case like this. Why would she need any more than that, if nobody else who loses their job gets any more than that?

If that's not enough for her, well then tough. She should have thought about that sooner.

[maleficent]

to take her side for just a second... (though not much longer than that, I have zero patience and respect for women who cheat) She should get something for having to go thru life with the name Susan Sosin... That's just a little too Dr Seussish.

[Stompy]

This is a good reason as to why people mysteriously end up dead.

[filtherton]

I find it difficult to have pity for the money problems of multi-millionaires.

[Supple Cow]

Is Connecticut a "no fault" state? Not that either of them deserves any kind of pity regarding their financial situation, but it seems like she should get a lot less (as in NOTHING) for having cheated. With two people. On more than two occasions.

[Suave]

Originally Posted by maleficent

to take her side for just a second... (though not much longer than that, I have zero patience and respect for women who cheat) She should get something for having to go thru life with the name Susan Sosin... That's just a little too Dr Seussish.

She can change her name. She should get a hundred grand max and be sent on her marry way.

*yes, I misspelled it on purpose :P

[ratbastid]

Wait just a cotton picking minute....

Howard Sosin learned of his wife's relationships in February 2003 when, during an upgrade of their computer system, he found hundreds of e-mails between his wife and her lover, according to testimony.

The guy's worth hundreds of millions and he upgrades his own computer???

No, no, no.... nothing about this adds up at all! I call for a mistrial! Overturn it on appeal!

[liquidlight]

Haivng been through a divorce, if you ask me I read this entire thing as "$24 Million? Pocket change to be rid of that BITCH!" Though since I don't know either of them personally maybe they're really hurting inside and are both wonderful people that just got caught in a bad situation. . . right? *shaking my head* People suck almost as much as money sucks.

[maleficent]

I had to see what 24 million was worth...

Susan Sosin is the blonde.
I guess this was in happier times

[Tarl Cabot]

Originally Posted by filtherton

I find it difficult to have pity for the money problems of multi-millionaires.

Then is it any wonder why they may not show a great deal of concern for YOUR money problems?

P.S. If you think this post was about money problems, you have misinterpreted its message.

[filtherton]

Originally Posted by Tarl Cabot

Then is it any wonder why they may not show a great deal of concern for YOUR money problems?

P.S. If you think this post was about money problems, you have misinterpreted its message.

Well, if i lost 400 dollars i'd be broke. This guy loses millions, only to be left with over a hundred million. boohoo. What is this post about again? I'm not an expert in divorce law.

[lurkette]

Catty bitch mode...

With all that money you'd think she could hire someone to tell her honestly not to leave the house looking like that.

Corporate wives can do a lot to support their husbands' careers, and for that they generally deserve some consideration, even if they cheat. I don't know the particulars of this marriage, but seems to me he's getting off easy and she's just hit the divorce jackpot. They should both consider themselves lucky.

[PredeconInferno]

Originally Posted by raveneye

I don't understand how something like this can happen. Marriage is a legal contract with obligations. The most important obligation of both parties is to be faithful. If you cheat then you've broken the contract in the worst possible way and the other party owes you absolutely nothing.

If that's not enough for her, well then tough. She should have thought about that sooner.

I happen to completely agree with you on this one.

She dishonored the marriage by cheating... there is nothing in the article that states the husband was abusive, so why the hell is she entitled to so much of his fortune when it specifically states it was gethered thanks to HIS genius in financing?

[maleficent]

I'm sure she could go on about how he was so busy working so hard that she was neglected at home.. he worked long hours and weekends and was never there for him.

Though from the pics, she's not young enough, and he's not old enough for her to play the "trophy wife" role.

i don't think she shoudl get a thing.

[Stiltzkin]

If I ever get married, I'm getting a prenuptial agreement; fuck all that shit.

[Gilda]

While 24 milliion is certainly a lot of money, and more than I would have given her, it's not as if he's being hurt in any substantial way by having some 1/5 of his fortune awarded to her.

It reminds me of a Richie Rich one page gag I have somewhere, which cracked me up when I was 12 and still gives me a giggle. Richie is complaining to one of the inventor guys that his new computer is malfunctioning. The computer guy asks what is wrong. Rich inputs some enormously huge number into the computer, saying to it, "If I have $923,548,296 in my account, and I spend $548,693,241, how much will I have left?" The computer's answer, displayed on the screen, is PUH-LENTY.

It's hard to have sympathy for a guy with 90 million liquid, two mansions and 10 cars after the divorce, even if she didn't deserve what she got.

[canuckguy]

There was a crazy divorce outside my town many years ago. The guy owned a car dealership and was doing very well for himself and his wife, she did not work. Well she had an affair and he filed for divorce, the judge awarded her half of the assets. Well the guy gets a little pissed about this, he hires a company to demolish his house and to cut the cars in half. He then called his wife to come pick up her half.


that story was told to me by my father who is divorced from my mom, who got more than half of my dads stuff when they seperated (according to him anyway). that story always put a smile on his face.

[VARIETY]

This thread has surprised me. I was expecting a few posts in which the amount of the award was considered equitable. However, some of the responses have indicated that the responder didn't really care whether the husband was treated fairly or not.

My first impression is that some people resent those who are successful. That strikes me as an unhealthy philosophy, and one that could easily lead to an unhappy life.

My second thought is that there are still people who think money buys happiness. In my opinion, that's an equally unhealthy philosophy. Besides, my personal experience has been that the two are unrelated.

Lastly, the "So what if it's not fair, he's rich" attitude could be (and almost certainly is) used to justify a variety of things--shoplifting, auto theft, embezzlement, mugging, what-have-you.

I'm very happy most immigrants don't share it, since they tend to arrive with very little, and most of us appear rich to them.

[Destrox]

Divorse in general in this country is so far beyond FUCKED up its not even funny.

There are way to many times where the female (I dont ever recall seeing a male win in the way females do.) takes more then half of the mans earnings. More often then not earning that he had prior to her being around, and i'm quite sure he would have just as much if not more w/out her help. Emotional states are not worth 2 million plus no matter what. You can leave a marriage if its so bad.

I hope someday we get judges that simply put up the "Fuck You" stick and let these people get nothing or very, very little. Things like this only make for more people to marry and divorse with the intention to gain money.

If she came into the marriage with a set amount, let her leave with that. If she had no job the entire time, to bad her choice.

At any point in this post you can replace him , her, female, male with the reverse to satisfy any issues with me looking at this as a Female robbing the Male.

[flamingdog]

In his shoes, I'd give what he lost in this case just to be rid of her cheating ass. If he really loved her, he would have traded everything he had in the instant he discovered her infidelity if there were some way to make it not true. I know that's how I would have felt if it were my wife.

[tecoyah]

..........small price to pay, taken in context.............

[Cynthetiq]

you reap what you sow....

[billege]

I think it's none of my business to judge what happened before, during, or after the marriage. I'll worry about my wife, not his.

[Suave]

Originally Posted by filtherton

Well, if i lost 400 dollars i'd be broke. This guy loses millions, only to be left with over a hundred million. boohoo. What is this post about again? I'm not an expert in divorce law.

It's still his, no matter how much he has. Sure, he's not as close to the poverty line as you are, but most millionaires work very hard for their money (no sarcasm here, I swear) and I'll bet you'd hate to lose a chunk of your hard-earned money as much then as you would now.

[rhaevyn]

What I want to know is..........who the hell needs 9 houses and 18 cars?

[MSD]

I live across town from them. I've seen the house (what you can see from the road without binoculars.) Saying that it's worth $16M doesn't really convey the sense of just how big it is.

[maleficent]

Originally Posted by rhaevyn

What I want to know is..........who the hell needs 9 houses and 18 cars?

well duh... houses get dusty you know.. and if you smoke the ashtrays on cars get full.. and a fly could splatter against the windshield of the car leaving an icky smudgie mark... Surely you don't expect people to clean, do you?

[alicat]

I am also one who's first cynical response is "fuck you, you're rich, who cares?". The most important word previous is "cynical". I am at this point in my life, lower-middle-class, whereas I had been alternately poor or lower class up until 1 1/2-2 yrs. ago. While a little green-eyed, I don't hold rich people's earnings against them (with the exception of those like Paris Hilton who did nothing more than be born to become rich).

Destrox: I don't get why you seem so bitter at your age, it kind-of saddens me. Who cares what assets the man has before marriage? You seem to be stating that only the "breadwinner" has any value in a marriage. As far as I understood the initial post, there was no mention of children at all. If there were children, would you think that a mother who is home all day taking care of the kid(s), keeping house and cooking meals doesn't mean anything? Forget kids, isin't keeping up the house and cooking all meals a job as well? Granted this woman probably had nanny's and cooks, but that is an assumption, not a known, and it seems you're lumping all women whether rich or poor into the same category.

I have worked full-time jobs (55-60 hrs/wk. for yrs. on end) and trust me, keeping a household running is just as challenging (as I've said, I've done both). Have you considered that some men might insist that their wives not work and "only" run the household while the husbands support them? The women married for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part, and whatever doth husband asketh (whether you believe it or not, a lot of people still adhere to the traditional vows). Then where are those women left in a divorce, say, 15 yrs. later? Possibly without education, without a work history and without a way to support themselves? Whether previously being rich or poor. Oh, I guess that is just too bad, her choice....

Ali

[thalakos315]

i can't really agree with the way divorce is handled in most cases.. personally i think that anything belonging to either party shouldn't be involved in divorce court.. for example, if the wife owned the house before meeting the husband, the wife should retain ownership of the house, and it shouldn't even need be mentioned during the divorce. anything thats gained during the marriage is fair game, but still shouldn't always be split 50/50.

any gifts from either side's family should also not be considered i think. especially inheritance.. a good friend of mine divorced his first wife a few years ago, his grandfather left him a good size inheritance, good chunk of cash, few classic cars they had restored together, etc mostly sentimental stuff. at the divorce he got the house, she got pretty much everything else.. including his inheritance from his grandfather.

i can't really say the way divorce works bothers me all that much to be honest. marriage seems to be treated as something disposable nowadays, if your going to get married you damn well better be 100% positive your marrying the person you think you are.

[filtherton]

Originally Posted by Suave

It's still his, no matter how much he has. Sure, he's not as close to the poverty line as you are, but most millionaires work very hard for their money (no sarcasm here, I swear) and I'll bet you'd hate to lose a chunk of your hard-earned money as much then as you would now.

If i had hundreds of millions of dollars, and felt like i deserved sympathy for losing a fraction of it, i would hope that anyone who knows me would slap the fuck out of me.

[kel]

What entitlement does a woman have to things which she did not earn? What entitlement does anyone have to that which they did not earn?

Everyone is so eager to take from the rich in order to give to the poor. It's no wonder that property rights are a sham in the industrialized world.

[Lockjaw]

Originally Posted by Stiltzkin

If I ever get married, I'm getting a prenuptial agreement; fuck all that shit.

Have to agree.

People who get married without a rock solid pre-nup are begging to get reamed if things do not work out.

Although let's do an experiment on worth. Many people claim housewives deserve their large divorce settlements due to the large amount of work they have to do. So...let's break down the role of the typical housewife and find jobs in the real world that fit it accordingly. I think that's fair.

cook(cooks the house hold meals)
maid(cleans the house)
errand or package runner(takes packages to the post office and things to be fixed)
nanny(cares 24/7 for children under 6 and children over 6 after school up to the age of 18)
part time tutor(tutors school aged children)
activities director(organizes family activities and vacations)
driver(drives children to and from activities)
call girl(services her husband 4 times a week,yeah right)
personal assistant(takes care of making sure correspondance with family members are kept up and gifts are bought)
Ok everybody have an approximate figure for the above jobs annual pay?
Maybe say 150k a year?
Now subtract their annual expenses of...
company provided housing
company provided vehicle guaranteed not to be over 4 years old(valued at 35k)
company provided food(alcohol included)
company provided uniforms
company provided phone services
company provided dental and health care
a weekly expense account
Ok how much do you think that would be worth?
I'd say at least 100k or more figuring in the expense account.

Hmmmm....getting what they are worth or robbing the bank?

[alicat]

Lockjaw: I have to claim dumb as I don't understand what you mean in your post.

You said:

Now subtract their annual expenses of...

. Who's expenses? I just don't get what you mean. The husbands, the wives, the hypethetical boss the wife might work for? Or a company for every job you listed? Which is 9 by the way. Even taking that as a maximum number (I'm sure 2-3 more jobs could be added), you almost argue against yourself. The 9 jobs you listed for a housewife, worked on a part-time basis (20 hrs./wk.) equal 180 hrs. a week all together. 135 hrs./wk. if you consider part-time as only 15 hrs./wk.. At the lower end (15 hrs. a wk.) for each job, that would equal a 19+ hrs. a day/7 days a week. I'm guessing there aren't too many people in the entire world that work 135 hrs. a week, much less 180. You did say the "typical housewife".

2-3 things you listed as provided by companies might be the norm. As for the rest, the average American does not have these provided; Housing, vehicle, food, phone, and certainly not an expense account.

The attitudes I'm seeing baffle me, does no one respect their own mothers unless they were absent from the home? I realize this thread is about a rich women's divorce, but I stand by my first post, is she not a good mother and wife simply because she's rich? Yes, she cheated and I personally detest infedelity, but none of us lived in that house. He could have been a cold fish, denying her affection which most humans crave. He also could have been physically or emotionally abusive. In this very public lawsuit, both might have reasons to not air dirty laundry that could then bite them in the bud if the other party retaliated.

Ali

[OFKU0]

If you think paying 24 million is bad, try this one on for size.

My cousin got married to a single mother. She moved into his house, didn't work,..didn't do anything really while he ran a successful cartage company. She had an affair (or affairs) and wanted a divorce. They were married almost two years.

When all was said and done, my cousin lost his business (court fees, 16 employees out of work, all his savings) lost the house to her and now works 2 jobs and lives in his mothers basement.

That's not the worst though. At 42 years old, he has to pay her support, pay the kids support (it isn't even his kid) and to boot, the ex is living in his house he built with his own two hands with her live in boyfriend who is some senior exec pulling in a 6 figure salary.

Don't know if it makes a difference or not, but the judge who ruled on this outcome was female. And the house is a beautiful ranch style log cabin.

[pocon1]

Considering all of the times that you hear about a 50% split of the assets, I consider this man lucky. Also, that 50% split often comes after the man is already succesful and then marries. this guy was an asst prof when they met, so all of the assets were earned while they were together. So he is fortunate, and I think the 24 million she got was fair. he paid about what, 24%? I am not saying that she made him what he is, but she probably did give him a lot of support through the years. to me, 50% would be too much, but this amount is reasonable.
Now in me and my wife's case, I worked full time and earned more than her while earning my master's (graduate this may). She is now not working and going back to school to earn a degree in nursing. If she ever leaves, I have her by the short and curlies considering I paid for more of my school and her school. HAHAHA!. Just kidding, neither of us could do it without each other, so if anything ever happened, I would want a fair split of the assets.

[Fire]

A really. really good hitman could run him maybe 5 million- and at that price it could have looked like a very plausable accident- with what he is worth, he has to have at least three times that in hidden assets- why did he not do the math?????

[Sweetpea]

Wow . . . what a surprise . . .

because the FIRST thing i think of when i hear when an ultra wealthy couple is

Trust and true love . . . NOT . . .



Sweetpea