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Jean Strahan wants $14M in settlement
Giants star's wife testifies $7M isn't enough
Jean Strahan, the wife of Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, is seeking a $14 million payout in the couple's bitter divorce fight, insisting the $7 million being offered by the All-Pro defender simply won't accommodate the lavish lifestyle she's grown accustomed to.
In court yesterday, she gave another example why.
The former cosmetics store manager testified that between March 2005 and May 2006 she spent more than $500,000 on "lifestyle expenses," including $22,500 on photographs and $27,000 on clothes for the couple's 20-month-old twins.
Under cross-examination by Michael Strahan's attorney Robert Penza, Jean Strahan admitted that none of the $550,000 was invested, saved or put aside for taxes. Rather, it was spent on things like a 10-day Jamaican getaway for her nanny's entire family and handbags for the couple's toddlers.
"They like to be accessorized," Jean Strahan said. "Isabella doesn't like to leave the house without her purse."
Still, Jean Strahan characterized the past year's expenditures as "conservative" and said she actually scaled back her spending after her checks started to bounce.
She went on to try to justify why she would need even more money in the future. According to a list of projected expenses prepared before the trial, Jean Strahan said she would need $4,000 a month for her clothes and $10,000 a month for vacations. She also said she would need two cars, listing a Range Rover and Audi A6 as possible choices.
"But I just saw a Q7, which I liked better," she quipped when pressed on her choice of two luxury cars.
She is also seeking $325,000 a year in child support, an amount first mentioned yesterday.
In his questioning, Penza tried to demonstrate that Jean Strahan's spending over the past year was an attempt to artificially inflate her lifestyle and justify the amounts listed in her projected ex penses.
But she countered with examples of even more extravagant spending that she and Michael Strahan engaged in prior to his filing for divorce, including $25,000 vacations to Hawaii, $2,000 evening dresses and a Mercedes Benz S500 used to take the couple's dogs to the veterinarian.
Jean Strahan reaffirmed her earlier testimony that she intended to live off her divorce settlement and not return to work, but she was coy when Penza began probing her personal assets.
According to the estimates of Michael Strahan's defense team, Jean Strahan has between $400,000 and $900,000 in inheritance money invested in certificates of deposit. She also has title to an undisclosed amount of farmland in her native North Dakota. Jean Strahan has not turned over documentation of these assets, but acknowledged both on the stand yesterday. She said she did not know how much land or money she had.
After two days of cross-examination, Penza finally seemed able to break through Jean Strahan's evasive answers, getting her to admit knowledge of three separate joint bank accounts. The admission was key for Michael Strahan's case because he contends that Jean Strahan verbally voided their pre- nuptial agreement when they got married and began sharing all his income.
The trial will continue tomor row, when Jean Strahan's attorney Ellen Marshall plans on calling her final witness.
http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1153288342257580.xml?starledger?spg&coll=1
Work harder gentlemen, work harder!!!!
Giants star's wife testifies $7M isn't enough
Jean Strahan, the wife of Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, is seeking a $14 million payout in the couple's bitter divorce fight, insisting the $7 million being offered by the All-Pro defender simply won't accommodate the lavish lifestyle she's grown accustomed to.
In court yesterday, she gave another example why.
The former cosmetics store manager testified that between March 2005 and May 2006 she spent more than $500,000 on "lifestyle expenses," including $22,500 on photographs and $27,000 on clothes for the couple's 20-month-old twins.
Under cross-examination by Michael Strahan's attorney Robert Penza, Jean Strahan admitted that none of the $550,000 was invested, saved or put aside for taxes. Rather, it was spent on things like a 10-day Jamaican getaway for her nanny's entire family and handbags for the couple's toddlers.
"They like to be accessorized," Jean Strahan said. "Isabella doesn't like to leave the house without her purse."
Still, Jean Strahan characterized the past year's expenditures as "conservative" and said she actually scaled back her spending after her checks started to bounce.
She went on to try to justify why she would need even more money in the future. According to a list of projected expenses prepared before the trial, Jean Strahan said she would need $4,000 a month for her clothes and $10,000 a month for vacations. She also said she would need two cars, listing a Range Rover and Audi A6 as possible choices.
"But I just saw a Q7, which I liked better," she quipped when pressed on her choice of two luxury cars.
She is also seeking $325,000 a year in child support, an amount first mentioned yesterday.
In his questioning, Penza tried to demonstrate that Jean Strahan's spending over the past year was an attempt to artificially inflate her lifestyle and justify the amounts listed in her projected ex penses.
But she countered with examples of even more extravagant spending that she and Michael Strahan engaged in prior to his filing for divorce, including $25,000 vacations to Hawaii, $2,000 evening dresses and a Mercedes Benz S500 used to take the couple's dogs to the veterinarian.
Jean Strahan reaffirmed her earlier testimony that she intended to live off her divorce settlement and not return to work, but she was coy when Penza began probing her personal assets.
According to the estimates of Michael Strahan's defense team, Jean Strahan has between $400,000 and $900,000 in inheritance money invested in certificates of deposit. She also has title to an undisclosed amount of farmland in her native North Dakota. Jean Strahan has not turned over documentation of these assets, but acknowledged both on the stand yesterday. She said she did not know how much land or money she had.
After two days of cross-examination, Penza finally seemed able to break through Jean Strahan's evasive answers, getting her to admit knowledge of three separate joint bank accounts. The admission was key for Michael Strahan's case because he contends that Jean Strahan verbally voided their pre- nuptial agreement when they got married and began sharing all his income.
The trial will continue tomor row, when Jean Strahan's attorney Ellen Marshall plans on calling her final witness.
http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1153288342257580.xml?starledger?spg&coll=1
Work harder gentlemen, work harder!!!!