TRENTON, N.J.—Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey says he cannot afford the perks he and his estranged wife enjoyed while he was governor, and that she is not entitled to continue to live the lifestyle of a first lady at his expense.

McGreevey filed court papers Sept. 14 responding to Dina Matos McGreevey’s demand for a bigger monthly support check—$4,000 a month, nearly four times what she now receives.

In her filing in Union County Superior Court, Matos McGreevey says she is entitled to live a lifestyle closer to that of first lady than she is now able to afford. She and the couple’s 5-year-old daughter live in a modest three-bedroom house, while her husband and his partner live in a mansion with gardens, she says.

In his filing, the former governor says he and Dina mostly lived in apartments while they were married.

“The title does not obligate the first lady to be chauffeured or have bodyguards or any of the security attendant to the title,” says McGreevey, noting that his wife chose to receive those perks, paid for by taxpayers.

Matos McGreevey, who earns $82,000 at Columbus Hospital in Newark, says she needs $11,162 per month to meet her expenses.

McGreevey stunned the nation when he announced in August 2004 that he was “a gay American” and resigned. The McGreeveys officially split up when they moved out of the governor’s mansion in November 2004.