Melinda Gates has described her marriage to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as "irretrievably broken" and said that she will not need spousal support going forward.
The high-profile philanthropists announced their divorce yesterday after 27 years of marriage.
They said they would continue their professional relationship at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which they said had spent $US53 billion ($68.7 billion) on charitable projects since 2000.
However, court documents obtained by US network NBC painted a dimmer picture of their private life.
In her petition for divorce, Ms Gates said a separation contract laid out how the couple's fortune would be split up, noting that "spousal support is not needed".
"We ask the court to dissolve our marriage and find that our marital community ended on the date stated in our separation contract," according to the document seen by NBC.
The pair announced the separation in a joint statement posted to their Twitter accounts yesterday, saying the decision had come "after a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship".
"Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives," they said.
"We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue to work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives."
Jennifer Gates says break-up has been 'challenging'
Jennifer Gates, at 25 the couple's oldest child, said family members were asking for "space" to navigate the divorce.
"It's been a challenging stretch of time for our whole family," she wrote on Instagram.
Mr Gates, 65, married Ms Gates, 56, in Hawaii in 1994.
Ms Gates has a bachelor's degree in economics and computer science, as well as an MBA (Master of Business Administration).
She started working at Microsoft as a product manager in 1987.
The couple has three children together — Jennifer, Rory, 21, and Phoebe, 18.
