Amicable Divorce

It has been reported this week that Mackenzie Bezos, ex-wife of Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, has become the world’s third richest woman with a divorce settlement of $35billion dollars (£26 billion).

After a 25 year marriage and four children, the couple originally announced their decision to proceed with an amicable divorce in January by way of a joint statement:

“As our family and close friends know, after a long period of separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends. We feel incredibly lucky to have found each other and deeply grateful for every one of the years we have been married to each other. If we had known we would separate after 25 years, we would do it all again. We’ve had such a great life together as a married couple, and we also see wonderful futures ahead as parents, friends, partners in ventures and projects, and as individuals pursing ventures and adventures. Though the labels might be different, we remain a family, and we remain cherished friends”

On announcing the dissolution of their marriage, Mr Bezos released a statement thanking his friends and family for their encouragement and love. Mr Bezos publically described his ex-wife as being an extraordinary partner, ally and mother and stated she is both resourceful and brilliant. Whilst thanking Mrs Bezos for her support and kindness during the process, Mr Bezos said he was very much looking forward to their new relationship as friends and co-parents.

Mrs Bezos released her own statement also thanking her ex-husband for his support, along with those that had supported them both. Mrs Bezos stated she was happy to be giving all of her business interests and voting control of her shares to support Mr Bezos in his continuing development of the companies. Mrs Bezos said she felt grateful for her past as she looked to what comes next.

As divorce lawyers, you might assume we would want to focus on the overwhelming amount of money involved in this divorce settlement and therefore discuss the fairness of the financial outcome arising from the Bezos’ divorce. However, just as Jeff and Mackenzie Bezos are not a “typical” divorcing couple, we are not “typical” divorce lawyers and as a boutique law firm, we do things differently.

We would like to focus on the Bezos’ decision to publicly praise and thank each other for their support;  as well as their decision to celebrate their marriage and focus on positively embarking on a new relationship together as friends and parents.

At Maguire Family Law we firmly believe that whilst the decision to divorce is a difficult one, it doesn’t have to be acrimonious.

Our firm Directors, are advocates of “good” divorce and are an example of a divorced couple who made the decision, like Jeff and Mackenzie Bezos, to remain friends, to continue in a business partnership and to co-parent their children.

We appreciate that the decision to divorce is difficult but we believe that it does not have to be an entirely negative experience. It can be human instinct to blame the other person for a marriage breakdown and letting go of a relationship can be one of the most difficult things to do.

We are not saying that making the decision to divorce and move forward in your relationship as friends is automatic or easy, and as the saying goes, “it’s okay to have a meltdown, just don’t unpack and live there. Cry it out and then refocus on where you are headed”.

At Maguire Family Law we are here to support you, work with you and represent your best interests throughout your divorce; and to ensure you are stepping into your future with your best foot forward.