Former Gov. James McGreevey is fighting wife Dina Matos' claim for alimony. She is asking for limited-term alimony based on the four years the couple was married and living together, much of that time as residents of Drumthwacket, the governor's mansion in Princeton.
A final issue in the McGreeveys' bitter breakup - a claim that she was duped into marrying a gay man - has not been scheduled to be heard. That phase could include salacious testimony from a former campaign aide who claims to have had sexual trysts with the couple.
A judge will rule on the money phase after the lawyers tie up their cases Wednesday and submit written summations of their arguments.
Testimony stretched on for three weeks as the McGreeveys laid bare their finances, both testifying they are deeply in debt and spending heavily as their divorce trial drags on.
Matos, 41, is hoping to be compensated for the lifestyle she enjoyed as the wife of the governor, which included round-the-clock state police security; a driver, chef and personal assistant and use of two beach houses. An accountant she hired placed the value of the so-called gubernatorial lifestyle at $51,000 a month; her husband's expert put the value of replicating that lifestyle at closer to $16,000 a month.
Regardless, McGreevey says he can't afford it.
He described himself as a full-time Episcopal seminary student who makes just $48,000 a year and lives in his boyfriend's house. Matos has said he's deliberately under-working.
McGreevey, 50, listened as an employment expert described him as "radioactive" in the work world, unable to secure a high-paying job since a gay sex scandal forced him from office four years ago.
McGreevey abruptly resigned in 2004 after declaring himself "a gay American" in a nationally televised speech and saying he had an affair with a male staffer. The staffer, later identified as Golan Cipel, denies the affair and maintains he was sexually harassed by the governor.
Matos, meanwhile, told the judge she borrowed $100,000 from a male friend as a down payment on her $430,000 Springfield home. Though the purchase was a financial stretch, she testified that she remodeled the kitchen, added a laundry room and made other improvements since moving in.
She was unemployed as of last Saturday, when the hospital at which she worked as a fundraiser shut down.
McGreevey and Matos said they never accumulated any savings, even when living rent-free in the governor's mansion and making a combined income of more than $200,000 a year.
McGreevey currently pays Matos $2,500 a month in unallocated support, meaning alimony and child support are not calculated separately. That could change, perhaps dramatically, with the judge's ruling.
Under New Jersey's child support guidelines, McGreevey could wind up paying as little as $100 a month, assuming Matos gets a job at her current salary of $82,000, McGreevey earns the $118,000 his expert estimated he's capable of bringing in annually, and they share custody of their only child, a 6-year-old.
