The wife of Chicago hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin is seeking a considerable sum for the support of the parties’ three minor children – all of whom are under the age of 8 – arguing that Illinois law provides that children are entitled to maintain the lifestyle that they enjoyed when their parents lived together in an intact family.
Anne Dias Griffin has requested almost $1 million per month in child support in the parties’ divorce proceedings, including amounts allocable for the use of a private aircraft ($300,000.00), for vacations ($160,000.00), and for stationary ($2,000.00). Mrs. Griffin’s husband is the founder of the Citadel LLC hedge fund, whose personal net worth has been estimated at $5.5 billion. Mrs. Griffin is also challenging the sufficiency of her premarital agreement, which purportedly entitles her to no more than 1% of her husband’s estate, or $55 million.
The New York Daily News reports that Mr. Griffin criticized his wife’s child support request, asserting that he already pays for every legitimate expense related to the parties’ children, and that Mrs. Griffin’s demand is a thinly veiled attempt to require him to subsidize her own extravagant lifestyle.
The child support request in the Griffin case is not unusual when viewed through the prism of extraordinary wealth and the ability to earn – even in Nevada. In fact, Nevada law provides for deviations in formulaic child support amounts that reach “presumptive” maximums, if evidence proves that the needs of a particular child are not met under the applicable formula. The relative income of both parents and the necessary expenses for the benefit of the child are both deviation factors under Nevada law. Further, the existence of extraordinary wealth not only impacts earned income, but could be argued to factually justify a child support deviation in and of itself.