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Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the USA - Divorce date conflict

Started by Private User on Friday, December 24, 2021
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Private User
12/24/2021 at 5:05 PM

[As a reminder, please keep this thread focused solely on genealogy.]

I'm trying to add documentation for his major life events, and I'm confused about the divorce date for his marriage to Ivana Zelníčková.

The New York Times of 21 March 1991, p. B1, says this:

"After a 13-year marriage, the Trumps were granted a divorce last December in a hearing..."

So that would make December 1990 the divorce date. However, most secondary sources give 1991, and Ivana Trump said in her book Raising Trump that they divorced in 1992.

The best I can figure is that the divorce was granted in December 1990, and that the settlement is what dragged on through 1992? (Though the NYT article says it was finalized 20 March 1991...but maybe it carried on after the article?) Can any of our users who also happen to be attorneys confirm if that makes sense? In that scenario, would the divorce date still be December 1990?

The divorce was granted in Connecticut, but it's not recorded in the state divorce index for that time period (I have no idea why), so that isn't too helpful.

I just want to make sure we have this data point correct, with good citation, so I really appreciate any constructive help. Thank you!

Private User
12/24/2021 at 5:17 PM

First part of the mystery solved: they were residents of Connecticut but divorced in New York. Here's an AP article from Wednesday, 12 December 1990 saying they were "divorced Tuesday," with New York as the location: https://www.newspapers.com/image/510788461/

So that's a pretty good reason to not find the divorce in the Connecticut index. :) But it doesn't resolve the issue of the date regularly being reported by good sources as 1991, and by an involved party as 1992.

Private User
12/24/2021 at 5:50 PM

Here's the most specific mention from Ivana Trump's book, on p. 156:

"A year after that, in March 1992, my divorce became final, and I was free as well."

She mentions the divorce occurring in 1992 elsewhere in the book, but this is the closest she gets to a full date. I'm thinking from the context that she means that's when the settlement was finalized.

So would 11 December 1990 still be the right date, or no?
Knut Jonny Henden Bjørshol PRO
12/24/2021 at 5:57 PM

Who?
Donald Warren Blankman PRO
12/25/2021 at 5:20 AM

My wife and I were privileged to attend the wedding of a friend John Staluppi at the Marriott Marquees in Manhattan, after which they went to spend their honeymoon on the Isle of Capri. While there, they received a call from Donald Trump and Ivana in London. John and wife flew up to have dinner with the Trumps. The next day, John's wife and Ivana went shopping in Paris, and John and the Donald drove about the English countryside in an MG Sportscar looking for castles to buy, so the story goes. Apparently, those were happier days for the Trumps. This occurred about 18 October 1987.

J P Weyers
12/25/2021 at 10:19 PM

Usually divorce proceedings filed like a marriage document
Best to try find that.

Would have a specific date , actual settlements might take up to 10 years.or more .Like with deaths and final estate clearance.

John Andrew Grogan
12/26/2021 at 9:14 AM

Ivanka is probably meaning money granted in the divorce settlement is the "freedom" she is referring too. It's hard to have a caviar lifestyle with a beans income.

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