Maryland Family Law Maryland family law opinions and commentary
Sue Ann Arnall, ex-wife of fracking baron Harold Hamm, has no intention of taking her $975 million and calling it a day.
To recap: Hamm and Arnall are both contesting the nearly billion-dollar award — Arnall because it only represented about 10 percent of the couple’s fortune, Hamm because plummeting oil prices increase Arnall’s share relative to his. When Arnall cashed the check after a judge rejected both arguments on Jan. 7, Hamm’s lawyer alerted the media that he figured it was Arnall’s way of telling them she was dropping the appeal.
As we said at the time, that’s one possible interpretation – but a highly optimistic one on Hamm’s part.
“Another way to view it,” we said, “would be as a down payment on the more equitable award Arnall says she deserves.”
And in papers filed Tuesday in the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Bloomberg reported, Arnall said pretty much the same thing:
Arnall, Hamm’s wife for 26 years, said it was “almost impossible” that her share of the couple’s wealth awarded in a divorce decree would shrink, even if the court rejects her bid for a larger portion.
Whatever the court decides, one thing is clear: Rose-colored glasses rarely produce 20-20 vision.
The case is Hamm v. Hamm, DF-113451, Supreme Court of the State of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma).
