A judge approved the divorce of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and Kellie Chauvin, but under secret terms due to heavy redaction of the documents, numerous sources reported.
Kellie Chauvin filed for divorce days after her husband was charged with murdering George Floyd in May. A redacted version of the court documents was released Thursday to the public after Washington County District Judge Juanita Freeman granted the divorce Tuesday, Star Tribune reported. The couple married in 2010 and have no children together.
Details of the settlement weren’t made public in order to protect sensitive information, making it impossible to determine the terms of the settlement. The initial divorce announcement caused speculation that the couple was trying to protect assets from civil litigation. (RELATED: Wife Of Fired Minneapolis Cop Accused Of George Floyd Murder Reportedly Filing For Divorce)
Freeman wrote that Kellie Chauvin would have received all equity in the couple’s two homes, all of the money held in the bank, investment accounts, and all of the money from Derek Chauvin’s pension and retirement accounts.
However, Kellie’s rejection of the proposal led some legal experts to believe that the couple was trying to protect their assets, according to CBS Minnesota. Freeman cited this possible fraud and noted that giving a significant portion of assets to the other spouse may be a “badge of fraud.”
Judge cites possibility of ‘fraud’ in rejecting proposed Derek Chauvin divorce agreement https://t.co/qdmWFjXq1V
— Jonathan Anderson (@jonathanderson) November 20, 2020
As part of another case, the Washington County Attorney’s Office charged Derek and Kellie Chauvin with nine felony counts for allegedly failing to claim nearly a half million dollars in joint income dating back several years.
A second proposed settlement was briefly made public in December, and would have given Kellie Chauvin about two-thirds of their marital and nonmarital assets, including both homes in Oakdale and Florida, although both lost value due to vandalism, according to CBS Minnesota.
Derek Chauvin’s beauty queen wife wants both their homes in divorce https://t.co/IeZg3YH0Mc pic.twitter.com/g6SQUs0UJD
— New York Post (@nypost) July 8, 2020
Kellie Chauvin would have received all of their marital assets, which is money both spouses earned during their marriage. The December proposal stipulated that Kellie Chauvin’s share of the marital assets would be $658,461, and Derek Chauvin’s would be an $8,862 debt. The nonmarital award, which includes money and property earned before marriage, would be $429,630 for Derek Chauvin, and $45,256 for Kellie Chauvin.
In total, Kellie Chauvin would receive $703,717, while Derek Chauvin would receive $420,768, according to Star Tribune.
One divorce attorney told the Star Tribune that it’s likely Freeman approved the December proposal, and that it’s possible the judge could have been convinced to give Kellie Chauvin more marital assets due to the amount of Derek Chauvin’s nonmarital award and the impact of the case involving the death of George Floyd.
“On its face, you could say that it’s surprising in that most people would advocate for a more equal division of the marital estate,” divorce attorney Marc Beyer told the Star Tribune. “[Derek Chauvin] certainly could have gotten more of the assets had he pursued it, but I don’t know what’s motivating [him] right now.”
