It appeared that Mrs. Wendt received far less than 50 percent of the value of the 420,000 unvested options. Mr. Wendt said he was pleased with the judge's decision on the unvested options. I thought the judge handled that in a most responsible way,'' he said. They said it could be higher. Connecticut is not a community property state where divorce law dictates a 50-50 split of all marital assets.
Judges have broad discretion in dividing up the assets, including the stock options.
During the trial, Mrs. Wendt's lawyers focused on her duties as a GE wife. Mrs. Wendt said she organized lavish business dinners at their posh home in the New York City suburb of Stamford, including a 1995 bash where Marvin Hamlisch played piano for about 100 guests. She said she traveled extensively on GE trips and gave other GE wives advice on what to wear and how to be a good conversationalist. She said she was also responsible for handling the family's moves each time her husband got a promotion. And she did most of the work raising their two daughters, she said.