look, it's really not that important. the law is the law. my sense is that gibson ain't that great of a guy anyway. the girl i am going to marry makes a lot more than i do. do i get half her stuff if we get divorced? probably not.
If you guys live in a community state you will.
The law is 50% of assets aquired after the date of marriage. In the Gibson’s case they married in 1980 when she had a job and household goods and Mel had zip.
All of the Gibson’s wealth was acquired after they married. That’s why she is legally and morally entitled to half.
History always matters, especially if you are talking about ultimate success. Courts don’t look at coulda, woulda, shoulda. Mr. Gibson cannot claim he would have or could have earned all that wealth without his wife by his side, because the facts are just the opposite. He DID earn all that wealth with her by his side and she DID contribute to his ability to focus on his career by being there to pick up and weave all the loose ends.
As for saying she had help raising the kids or doing the housework. Doesn’t mean jack. What it means is that she was managing and directing a professional staff, hiring and firing as necessary to make Mr. Gibson free to focus and pursue his career. Even taken from a work value standpoint her contribution would be more rather than less because that would be an executive position rather than a menial one.