Postnup’s $43M Divorce Settlement Isn’t Enough, Executive’s Wife Says

Married since 2002 to George David, who is now chairman of the board of United Technologies Corp., Swedish countess Marie Douglas-David is entitled to a $43 million divorce settlement under a 2005 postnuptial agreement between the now-warring spouses.

But that's not enough, she contends, for one who needs $53,000 a week to cover ordinary living expenses, according to the Hartford Courant and an earlier Connecticut Law Tribune article.

In a high-profile Connecticut trial that begins today and is expected to set a new record high for a divorce judgment in the state, she is likely to argue that the postnup is unenforceable.

And she has the high-powered counsel who may be able to prove her case: She is represented not only by attorney Bruce Louden, of Hartford, Conn., but New York City divorce lawyer William Beslow. His previous celebrity clients include Christie Brinkley, Tatum O'Neal and Marla Maples, the former wife of Donald Trump.

David is represented by Anne Dranginis, a former Connecticut appeals judge, and Dara Goings. Both are with Rome McGuigan.

A post-nup "is typically regarded as the floor, so the wife can only go up from there if she contests it," says Gaetano Ferro of Marvin, Ferro & Barndollar. He is a former president of the Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.