Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have been separated for the past ten years. Many assumed the two would always stay legally married, even if they no longer lived together. However, the speculation can stop; just after Christmas, news broke that the two had finally finalized their divorce.
Why Did They Finally Split?
The pair seemed happy enough to stay together, with a mutual friend saying, “I just don’t think they wanted to push the button. They weren’t ready to disentangle themselves. But there are a few reasons for finally doing this, and it’s a good time of year to do this — you can get things done quietly when people are busy celebrating the holidays.”
There are many reasons Schwarzenegger and Shriver might have finally divorced. Some think it was financial. The $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act could hit the one-percent hard if it becomes law next year. A divorce would divide their wealth and could put them in a lower tax bracket.
Some think the reason was romantic. Schwarzenegger has been dating physical therapist Heather Milligan since 2013. “Arnold is very happy with Heather. She’s very good for him,” said the mutual friend.
The two have even traveled to his native Austria together. Maybe the former governor asked for the divorce so he could finally pop the question to his longtime girlfriend? Shriver was last linked to political consultant Matthew Dowd, but the two split in 2017.
The Divorce Settlement
The details of the divorce settlement seem pretty straightforward. While the two had a very complicated property settlement agreement, the money “pretty much” got split down the middle. Both live in the Brentwood area.
Schwarzenegger is believed to have hired his divorce lawyer relatively recently, while Shriver called “divorce queen” Laura Wasser, famous for her work with celebrities like Angelia Jolie and Kim Kardashian.
The couple were married in 1986, but split in 2011 after it was revealed that Schwarzenegger had fathered a child with their housekeeper Mildred Baena. In an interview with Howard Stern, the actor said, “I had personal setbacks, but this was, without any doubt, the biggest setback and the biggest failure … Not only failure, but you feel like, ‘I’m to blame for it. It was me that screwed up.’ And you can’t point the finger at anyone else.”