Einstein writes a formal and bitter letter to the woman from whom he had just separated, informing her that he's paid all the removal expenses with the exception of tips and storage charges which she is to pay. Einstein further provides her with his proposal for maintenance payments which he states will be 5600 marks in quarterly installments, providing his income doesn't diminish from its current level. He also sends greeting to his children sourly commenting, "as long as Albert hasn't answered my letter, I must assume that it was not given to him." He also makes reference to this in a lengthy postscript, "greetings from me to the children do not seem to be passed on, otherwise they would have sent greetings to me over the course of time. It is actually therefore pointless for me to renew them each time."

Einstein married Maric in 1903 and they had three children, a daughter whose fate is unknown and two sons, Hans Albert and Eduard. At the time of this letter, their marriage had collapsed and Einstein had moved out, although they didn't divorce until February 1919, five years after this extraordinary letter was written.