Leon Johnson
English 1200- 79
Project One Revision
27 April 2012
Prenuptial
Agreement
“Kobe Bryant wife files for divorce” is just one of the
titles that many newspapers and magazines produced when media was informed that
basketball superstar, Kobe Bryant, was getting hit with a divorce. Vanessa
Bryant, who was married to Kobe Bryant for ten years, filed for divorce after
she found that Kobe Bryant was unfaithful again. In 2003, Kobe Bryant was
caught being unfaithful when he was charged with sexually assaulting a Colorado
woman. Vanessa signed the divorce petition on December first after an investigator
revealed pictures of Kobe with another woman. “The couple did not have a
prenuptial agreement, Vanessa Bryant’s mother previously told a Times reporter.
If true, she would be entitled to half of their community property.” (Reicher)
Since Kobe and Vanessa Bryant did not have a prenuptial agreement, the next
articles produced, such as “Kobe Bryant divorce: Three homes to Vanessa
probably just a start,” told what Vanessa Bryant received from Kobe. Articles
such as, “Vanessa Bryant gets three homes, $75 million in Kobe Bryant divorce
settlement: report” and “Kobe Bryant’s wife Vanessa scores BIG in Divorce”
filled the cover of magazines and newspapers. In the articles it talked about
how Vanessa received three of the couple’s properties in Newport Beach,
California and half of the couple’s total assets, estimated at $150 million. “Vanessa
will acquire mansion the couple lived in, as well as the new home they had been
building for the past two years. She also reportedly granted a third property
where her mother has been living.” (Winton) But was Vanessa with Kobe when he
was working out and putting hard hours in the gym practicing to become the
superstar he is now? Was she worth half of the couple’s asset? Would she have
received all this if she signed a prenup? Why didn’t Kobe Bryant want her to
sign a prenuptial agreement before they got married? A lot of professional athletes
and wealthy individual have different opinions about prenuptial agreement;
prenuptial agreement should be signed by the other individual, man or woman, in
most cases.
A prenuptial agreement is a contract entered into prior
to marriage, civil union, or any other agreement prior to the main agreement by
the people intending to marry or contract with each other. Although many
engaged and married people do not like talking about it, prenup is a smart
financial plan. “With about one in three of all first marriages ending in
divorce, and fifty percent of second or third ones hitting the skids, a prenup
is smart financial planning, legal and financial experts say.” (Bankrate) “A
prenuptial accord is a contract between two people about to wed that spells how
assets will be distributed in the event of divorce or death. Such agreements
have existed for thousands of years in some form or another, particularly in
European and Far Eastern cultures, where royal families have always made provision
for protecting their wealth.” (Bankrate) Also, another world-known athlete, and
billionaire that did not make their wife sign a prenuptial agreement is Tiger
Woods.
Elin Nordegren also filed a divorce paper for her famous,
golfer husband Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods was hit with a divorce after his wife
found out that Tiger woods was cheating on her. Information came out about Tiger
Woods affair when he crashed his car in the middle of the night outside his
house a day after Thanksgiving in 2010. Elin Nordegren found out that Tiger was
sleeping with seventeen other women. The couple finally made their divorce
final, after the nine month scandal. Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren were
married for five years. Also like Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods did not make his
wife sign a prenuptial agreement. When media found out that there was no
prenuptial agreement, they produced articles such as, “Elin Nordegren Gets
$750M, Custody of Kids in Exchange for Silence in Tiger Woods Divorce” and
“Tiger Woods’ Divorce Settlement Gives Elin $100 Million and Kids.” In the
articles it talks about how Elin will receive one-fifth of Tiger’s net worth,
which is estimated to be around 100 million dollars, and the custody of their
two children. She will also receive the family home in Windermere and an
unfinished estate in Jupiter, both in Florida, and also an apartment in
Stockholm. But was Elin married to Tiger before he got rich? Was she on the
golf range all day with Tiger while he was practicing?
One of the few instances a person should not have to sign
a prenuptial agreement is if they knew the wealthy person before they got rich.
If the couple met in college, before they knew that one of them was going to be
a first overall pick, and stayed together during the hard times. If the couple
was together during the hard times then both of them had to struggle. If the
couple used to work together and one of them moved up the ladder to become
wealthy then they should not have a prenuptial agreement contract if they get
married. Also if they built an organization or company together and get married
then they should not have a prenuptial agreement. One example of this is Claire
and Anthony Maglica, founders of the Mag Instruments, who built a company and
became wealthy together.
Although Claire and Anthony never actually got married,
they lived together for numerous years. Anthony Maglica, a Croatian immigrant,
founded his own machine shop business, in 1955. In 1971, he got a divorced and
kept the business. The same year he met Claire Halasz. They got on famously,
and lived together holding themselves out as man and wife, Claire even changed
her last name, but they never actually got married. Anthony was the president
of the company while Claire was the secretary. They were paid equal salaries
from the business after its incorporation. In 1978, the business began to
manufacture flashlights and the business boomed. If they did decide to get
married, I do not think Claire should have signed a prenuptial agreement. Even
though Anthony already owned the business, it did not really make millions
until Claire begin working with the company. Since she was with him before he
actually became a millionaire, then she is objected to some of the money. If
she met him after the company was booming and she did not work for the company,
then it would be a different story because he already would have had the money.
If wealthy people get a divorce and get married for a
second or third time, should they make their new lover sign a prenuptial
agreement? If a well-known millionaire or billionaire gets a divorce, I think
they should make their new lover sign a prenuptial agreement. In most cases
once people know that the person is rich they do not get married for love, they
try to get marry for the money. Once people know that a certain individual is
rich they will do anything possible to get some of the money. Many examples of
this scenario is seen when older billionaires marry young waiters and hotel
workers. If a twenty year old woman is showing interest in a seventy-five year
old man, people should know that something is strange. There is nothing that a
twenty year old woman want from a sixty year old man or older except his money.
The millionaire does not even have to be old either. For example, if Kobe
Bryant falls in love again and try to get married, he should make his lover
sign a prenuptial agreement, even if they are the same age. Although the lover
might say that she did not date him for the money, she knew that he was rich
and somewhere down the line the money played a part. One billionaire who has
not learned his lesson with marriages and prenuptial agreement is Ron Perelman.
Ron Perelman has been married numerous of times but still have made any of his
wives sign a prenuptial agreement before it became official.
Ron Perelman is one of the richest men in the United
States. He is an investor and a restaurant owner that is worth eleven billion
dollars. Although he is a billionaire, he is not the right person for love. Ron
Perelman has paid over $138 million in settlements to his four ex-wives. Him
and his first wife, Faith Golding, married in 1965 and divorced in 1984 with a
divorce settlement of $8 million. His second wife, Claudia Cohens, he married
in 1985 and divorced in 1994, received $80 million. After he divorced Claudia
Cohens, he married Patricia Duff in 1994. After a short marriage of two years,
they divorced and Patricia Duff racked in $30 million for the divorce
settlement. He and his fourth wife, Ellen Barkin, got married in 2000. After
six years of marriage, the couple also got a divorce and Ellen Barkin received
between $20 and $60 million. After the second wife and how much he had to pay
out for their divorce settlement, he should have realized that he was giving
away a lot of money for divorcement. Before he married his third wife, they
should have sat down and talked about an agreement.
Do you have to be a millionaire or billionaire to need a premarital
agreement? “You do not have to be a Rockerfeller or Trump to need a prenuptial
agreement. A person who has managed to save $30,000 may be more protective of
their little nest egg than someone who has millions.” (Bankrate) Some reasons
that you might want to consider having a prenup for is if you have assets such
as a home, stock or retirement funds, own all or part of a business, you may be
receiving an inheritance, or one of you is much richer than the other. “Also
you should consider if one of you will be supporting the other through college,
you have or are pursuing a degree or license in a potentially lucrative
profession such as medicine, or you could see a big increase in income because
your business is taking off.”(Bankrate) It is more middle-class couples filing
for a divorce in this generation. Many people that own little businesses are
getting a divorce due to the struggles of this hard economy.
Many people believe that if they sign a prenuptial
agreement then their love for each other is not genuine. They believe that if
they are not sharing everything they own then they might as well not even get
married. With this opinion, many people that might think they should never sign
a prenuptial agreement. People that do believe in prenuptial agreements
actually believe that their love is more genuine if the other person is not
entitled to the money. Some wealthy people believe that some people only show
interest in them because they do have money. They want people to sign a
prenuptial agreement to show that the love is real and that it is not all about
the money.
If one signs a prenuptial agreement, does that mean they
will not receive any money? If a person signs a prenuptial agreement that does
not mean that they will not receive anything. If the couple talks about what
they want out the agreement then they will receive some benefits. Many
billionaires have a heart, so they will be able to agree with some money. The
main reason people want others to sign a prenuptial agreement is for they would
not try to take all their money. Also if the couple has children, then the
individual will still have to pay child support. One example of a couple that
had a prenuptial agreement was Michael Jordan and his wife, Juanita. Juanita
signed a prenuptial agreement but she still received a large amount of money
off the divorce settlement.
Michael and Juanita Jordan were married for seventeen
years. They met back on a blind date in 1984 and got married in 1989, Michael
Jordan’s second season with the Chicago Bulls. A year after they got married,
both of them signed a prenuptial agreement. Also while they were married, they
had three children, Jeffrey Michael, Marcus James, and Jasmine Mickael. They
filed for divorce on January 4, 2002 but reconciled thereafter. But after five
years later they finally made the divorce official. During the settlement,
since Juanita signed a prenuptial agreement, she received half of Michael
Jordan money which totaled $168 million and their seven-acre estate in Chicago.
How does one bring up prenuptial agreement to their love
one without them getting mad? Should one even bring up prenuptial agreement? A
discussion about prenuptial agreement is touchy but it should be brought up as
early as possible. Experts suggest that a person should bring up the discussion
even before the engagement. “The mention of a prenup should not come as a
surprise if you and your sweetheart have been open with each other as the
relationship became serious.” “Let your intended know you believe these
agreements are important and that you’d like to go over the topic.” (Dunnan) If
an individual overacts about the prenuptial agreement then they might was
trying to get the money all along. Also when an individual bring up the topic
they must be honest. If the person is not honest during the contract, then the
whole contract could be void.
Although prenuptial agreement is a touchy subject, it is
still a good idea to have one. Although a lot of people do not think they
will get a divorce, studies and surveys have revealed that most couples do get
a divorce. A divorce can cause a lot of stress and emotion on an individual
life and one way to make a divorce easier is to know what you will get before
the divorce will even happen. Even though some people think that having a
prenuptial agreement is bad, I believe that the good out ways the bad. Prenuptial
agreements can save a lot of time, money for lawyers, energy and headaches for
the two individuals.
Works
Cited
