The Real Housewives of Potomac alumni Monique Samuels finalized her divorce from Chris Samuels in 2023 and is updating fans on how it’s going. During a podcast appearance on Dear Future Wifey, the 41-year-old revealed she doesn’t get alimony or child support from her former husband.
“We had a prenup and when we sat down to create our prenup, it was with the intention of, ‘I don’t ever want you thinking I want what you have or want you for what you have,’” Monique said during the December 4 episode of the podcast. “I was working for him so the way we did it was as if I was still his business manager, whatever that salary would have been, it was just basically like, in the event that we get divorced, here is what would’ve been your salary over the past however many years if you were still working.”
Essentially, the former reality TV star explained that the agreement would ensure she was financially reimbursed for all the years she wasn’t in formal employment and supported her former husband.
“It wasn’t so I can be set if we get divorced. It was so that, well I’m not working and I’m used to working and if I had worked, what would my salary have been?” she shared. “And then we just made that accrue every year for the marriage. And it was supposed to be something that went up every year but in good faith … I’m like, ‘Listen, this is not why I’m here, so just keep in the same number across the board.’”
Samuels admits that there are shortcomings in the agreement, as it didn’t factor in the three children they share. The former couple have a daughter named Milani and two sons named Christopher and Chase.
“So when we finalized everything, the prenup [was] already set. There’s no alimony. I don’t get any money from him, like at all,” she explained. “I could have — like most women do — they typically will go after full custody of the kids, and then there’s this whole battle for child support. I said, ‘I’m not going down that road,’ because at the end of the day, that’s not why I was ever here. [So] I don’t get any child support.”
That said, the TV personality did receive a lump sum in the divorce settlement and used that to purchase a home for herself and her children.
“I wanted to make sure that my children had their own bedrooms. I wanted to make sure they could come from their home, which I created in Potomac, but I wanted them to come to this new home and still feel like it’s home,” she said.
Monique and Chris married in March 2012 but eventually ended their union in 2023 after the TV personality filed for divorce. Regarding why the couple split up, there were several reasons relating to unmet needs, past traumas, and challenges with communication. That said, in August, during a chat on her YouTube channel, Monique said she and Chris are amicable, co-parenting is going well, and she’s in a better space overall.