[WildTurkey]

Perhaps he told her she would be able to establish her career and would not need alimony and then it just happened that she never had the chance. Happens.

[Bonaparte]

Yes, that's a possibility. But it's also a possibility that she gave him a similar verbal promise to never take his children away from him, to never take unfair advantage of him in a court, to never reduce him to virtual poverty in a vindictive divorce action.

People make verbal promises every day.

And every now and then, someone actually fulfills that promise.