By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
September 29, 2004
Divorce attorney to the stars Raoul Felder once said a celebrity who doesn’t draw up a prenuptial agreement needs a psychiatrist, not a lawyer. After all, if your net worth was $32 million, would you marry a guy whose car was repossessed?
OK, but say you’re Britney Spears and you really, really want to marry backup dancer Kevin Federline and think this love will last 4-ever! Doesn’t signing a prenup mean you’re already foreseeing potential problems?
Exactly. Which is something she may not see, but everyone else does — even her parents who insisted she have her attorneys draft up a little something to protect her assets. After a worldwide intervention, in which even The Donald and Madonna chimed in, Brit-Brit relented.
Whether her Sept. 18 wedding is legal or not has yet to be ironed out. People magazine and Associated Press report the couple married without a license. But Us Weekly says the ceremony wasn’t legitimate because Spears and Federline had yet to finalize the terms of their prenup.
Us says it obtained a draft of the couple’s prenuptial agreement, which states that Spears will pay her groom $300,000 a year for a time equal to half the length of their marriage if they divorce. It didn’t hash out whether half a year counts, but we’re guessing that’s one of the items in question. Furthermore, she will not be responsible to support his children from previous relationships (he has two with ex-girlfriend Shar Jackson).
And in one of the tackier inclusions to their prenup, all gifts valued at $10,000 or more will come with a legal document stating who will get it if the couple should split. Maybe we’re just splitting hairs here, but shouldn’t gifts, by definition, belong to the recipient? And isn’t the legal document the equivalent of leaving a big fat price tag on that Jacob the Jeweler watch?
The prenup, which kindly describes Federline as having “property of moderate value,” also states he gets nothing from any of Spears’ companies. But he also isn’t responsible should they lose money or go bankrupt.
Bob Nachshin, a celebrity divorce lawyer in Los Angeles, won’t say which of his famous clients required what. But here are some of the things they asked for — and got — before saying “I do”:
* The right to perform random drug tests. Financial penalties were incurred if the resuIts were positive.
* A claim on all frequent-flier miles should the spouse be unfaithful.
* A bonus of $100,000 each time the spouse was unfaithful.
* For a husband not to watch more than one football game on Sundays during football season.
* For a husband not to have to go on vacation with his mother-in-law.
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Think you’ve heard it all? Oh no, you haven’t. Take a look at some of these celebrity prenuptial requirements.
THE PRENUP THAT ATE A RELATIONSHIP:
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck
The prenup is moot now that the marriage never happened. But can you blame the guy once he got a look at her requirements? The twice-divorced Lopez got off easy when she only paid $48,000 to Ojani Noa when their 10-month marriage ended. Second husband Cris Judd got $14 million — perhaps partially because she was involved with Affleck at the time. With Affleck, Lopez reportedly was to receive half of all his assets if he cheated on her. And if there were children involved, she was to receive full custody with Affleck getting no visitation rights at all. If the marriage ended in divorce and Affleck never strayed, he would not get a penny from Lopez. There’s no word on whether she and husband No. 3 — Marc Anthony — signed any prenups.
THE CHEATING CLAUSE:
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas
Should the couple divorce, Zeta-Jones is to receive $2.8 million for every year they’ve been married. If she’s able to prove he cheated on her, she’s entitled to a one-time $5 million.
Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen
When you marry a guy who was one of Heidi Fleiss’ best customers, you’ve got to protect yourself. Sheen’s better half had a clause included in their prenup that if he cheats on her, she leaves with a minimum of $4 million.
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH WE DON’T NEED NO STINKING PRENUP:
Brian Littrell and Leighanne Wallace
When the Backstreet Boy married his longtime love, he said he didn’t want to cheapen their relationship by asking her to sign a prenup.
Madonna and Guy Ritchie
“I don’t want a penny if this marriage dies,” he has been quoted as saying. Yes, but shouldn’t he receive something for the death of his film career, which seems directly related to his relationship with the Material Mom?
Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt
Hollywood’s gold couple supposedly eschewed any financial legal document. Then again, this couple is almost equally matched when it comes to assets.
Kobe Bryant and Vanessa Laine
There was much speculation that the superstar basketball player and his parents became estranged when he refused to ask Laine to sign a prenuptial agreement.
TO PRENUP OR NOT TO PRENUP?
Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise
The two didn’t have a prenuptial agreement, so when Cruise wanted to bail out of the relationship, he made sure he filed papers just before their 10th wedding anniversary. Under California law, the wealthier half of a couple married under 10 years has to pay alimony only for half the length of the marriage. Got that?
Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold When her lawyer insisted they get a prenup before their 1990 wedding, Barr fired him instead. Big mistake. Arnold left the marriage with a $50 million settlement.
Janet Jackson and Rene Elizondo The couple had a secret marriage and a very public divorce. Elizondo, who insisted on signing a prenup because he didn’t want people to think he was after Jackson’s money, went after Jackson’s money when they split in 2000. He wanted $25 million and their almost $5 million home. She offered him $10 million to go away. They settled out of court.
Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin Baldwin is now a big supporter of prenuptial agreements for all couples getting married. But when he married Basinger in 1993, neither wanted one. “My ex-wife was someone I could never imagine getting divorced from,” Baldwin once said. When Basinger, who once bought a town, went bankrupt, it was up to him to bail her out.
YOUR STANDARD CELEB PRENUP:
Russell Crowe and Danielle Spencer
The mercurial actor signed a prenup guaranteeing Spencer at least $15 million if they’re married at least three years. Each child they have automatically will get a $3 million trust fund. She also would be entitled to an $8 million penthouse in Australia.
