A HOUSE DIVIDED

WELCOME

Hello, and welcome to a pop culture moment.

There are a few things that we collectively remember as a society. For our parents or grandparents, it was when JFK was shot, when we landed on the moon, or Watergate. For those of us in Generation X, it was the advent of MTV, the OJ debacle, or when Princess Diana died. If you’re a little younger, it could be 9/11 or the crash of 2008 or Britney’s crash in 2007. Even younger? When Tom Holland performed Umbrella during Lip Synch Battle and you could literally see the moment Zendaya fell in love with him.

My point is, there are events we all recall with great clarity. It’s part of our collective consciousness. We know where we were and what we were doing. These events become an anchor in time. And as a society, I’ve got to say this—we are never, ever, ever going to forget ColdplayGate.

So today, let’s talk about how divorce impacts real estate assets.

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STORY TIME WITH GLENNDA

Exhibit A in Byron vs. Byron

OH, MY STARS… Schadenfreude is not my style, but I cannot look away from this story. And I can’t look away because it is everywhere I look. People are re-enacting the moment on Jumbotrons in stadiums across the country. It’s on every network. Brands are getting in on the game. I even saw someone who made a sugar cookie out of those two embracing. The baker added some gray at her hairline and that level of detail is just savage. The whole Astronomer story is just gathering steam, like a snowball rolling downhill.

Of course, that got me thinking about divorce, because how do you come back from something like this? The thing about divorce (and I know this firsthand) is it doesn’t just break hearts.

As my ex used to say, “Divorce destroys fortunes worse than any other failure.”

Think about it: in a split, you theoretically lose 50% of your net worth overnight. But it’s rarely that simple. Often, one partner (most frequently the woman) has taken career breaks to raise kids. That imbalance becomes devastating in divorce, especially when real estate is involved. Because that house? That dreamy estate with the pristine lawn and high-end finishes? It becomes the most emotionally charged battlefield of all. (Ask me about the $10K my ex and I paid to our attorneys as we fought over who’d get about $500 worth of Adirondack chairs.)

Let’s say Partner A’s actions—like a scandal that is resonating around the whole dang globe—tank the marital assets. Should Partner B still only get 50% of what remains? Or the pre-damage value? That’s the real question because it isn’t just emotionally wrecking. It’s financially crippling. In this case, it looks like he’s the one who dismantled their net worth and again, from what we’ve seen, his wife has no culpability. I read that man made something like $25M/year with an equal amount of stock options and he has just resigned his post. So he’s out of work.

Now what?

The worst of it is when the wealthy spouse can out-litigate the other, hiring top-tier lawyers and dragging things on, leaving the less-resourced spouse financially and mentally exhausted because they don’t have the tolerance.  

Pain aside, when you’re dealing with high-profile families, multimillion-dollar homes, and a media spotlight, the stakes get even higher. The tragedy isn’t just personal. It becomes public. More often than not, the way it’s handled, both legally and emotionally, sets the stage for a PR nightmare. In this case, it got really messy real quick because there was no clear messaging, so people are just filling in the blanks and not letting the story die. (Myself included.)

Instead of getting in front of the story, instead of controlling the narrative or protecting their privacy with intention, this couple let the media (and social media) piece it together like vultures over a carcass. All the public sees is dysfunction and blame, professional legacies unraveling in real time… even though there’s nothing this company could have done better to get their name out there prior to their IPO. Is this a blessing or a disaster for them? I truly don’t know. PR classes are going to study this incident, mark my words.

Where the hell is Olivia Pope when you need her?

Now, let’s talk about instances where the innocent spouse gets the house. And in this case, that could be the HR lady’s husband since that CEO was not caught on camera hugging himself. (How does she get so many CEOs?) Because the line “you can have the house” sounds generous, but more often than not, it’s a trap. This is a financial Trojan horse. A five-bedroom money pit that requires endless maintenance, astronomical taxes, and invisible emotional labor to keep upright.

Sure, they got the asset. But do they have the cash flow? Do they have the bandwidth? The support? Those are the real questions.

Worse yet, if the other partner’s bad behavior devalued the brand or the estate, then what? The wronged person is getting 50% of a burnt-down castle. There’s no insurance policy for a scandal. (Why do they not sell divorce insurance?) And if that more powerful partner uses money as leverage and weaponizes legal teams, it becomes a war of attrition. The spouse might get the house, but they walk away with empty pockets and a mortgage they can’t maintain. (In this case, if there’s alimony, how will that work? This man is radioactive right now so I wonder if he’s even hirable.)

That’s not justice. That’s punishment.

I can always tell in the first thirty seconds if the people in the house I’m showing is divorcing. Either the photos of the couple together are down or the furniture is mismatched or all of his golf shirts are spaced out across the entire primary’s closet. Even without those clues, I swear to y’all it’s like the energy in the home has shifted. (And if it’s just the man living there, the toilet is always dirty. Count on that.)

As a divorced woman, watching this unfold is devastating. I have such empathy for the spouses and families. Because I know what it’s like to rebuild a home, not just in bricks and dollars, but in memories and sacrifice. And I know what it’s like to watch it slip through your fingers, not because you did anything wrong, but because the person next to you stopped showing up.

So here’s my advice, not as a real estate agent, but as a human being:

• Prenups aren’t just for trust fund kids. Contracts mean clarity when emotions are high.

• Know your home’s worth, maintenance costs, and realistic resale value now, before there’s a crisis. (There’s never a problem ‘til there’s a problem.)

• Think long-term maintenance, not just acquisition. If you receive the house, can you afford the $10K+/year in upkeep? Plus the taxes, landscaping, utilities, insurance, etc. Make sure you know how it all adds up.

• Lean on your advisors. Financial planners or a lawyers can help you create a buffer before negotiations begin.

Divorce is never just a relationship ending, never just a conscious uncoupling. Divorce is a structural shake-up that can reset your life and your net worth in the time it takes a tweet to go viral. If you’re navigating love, marriage, or separation, don’t ignore the financial currents beneath the waves. Protect yourself. Know your numbers. Get the hard conversations started before they’re forced upon you by an Instagram reel.

Here’s to staying financially and emotionally resilient.

@glenndabaker

If you’re going through a divorce today and you’re going to have to refinance to get the other spouse off of the mortgage, there’s going t... See more

GLENNDA’S GURU

Welcome, Chad Carroll!

I could not be more delighted to be talking with Chad Carroll today! Chad is the #1 agent at Compass Florida, along with leading the top team, with more than $7.5B in sales. Whoa! No wonder he’s a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Daily News, and Forbes. Speaking with him is like taking a master class in the real art of the deal, so please enjoy our chat! (P.S. Y’all will not believe the setting, either!)

Thanks again, Chad!

GLENNDAISM

Today’s Words of Wisdom

GLENNDA BAKER & ASSOCIATES

Apparently You Can Put a Price on Cute

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