Posted on 12/14/2005 5:36:36 AM PST by Ellesu
LOS ANGELES - No mother-in-law sleepovers. Only one football game per Sunday. Mandatory sexual positions. With celebrity marriages often shorter than Jessica Simpson's Daisy Dukes, the power of the prenuptial agreement cannot be denied.
Simpson and soon-to-be-ex-husband Nick Lachey didn't have a "prenup" — he had more earning power than she did when they got married three years ago — so Simpson could have to part with half of the $30 million she earned last year.
Other recent breakups include Valerie Bertinelli from Eddie Van Halen, and Christina Applegate from Jonathon Schaech. Prenups are the norm for most stars — even regular folks should have one, if you listen to Kanye West — and these documents can dictate far more than who gets what.
"Everything is legal unless you're dealing with custody of children or child support," said Los Angeles divorce attorney Robert Nachshin, who has represented Barry Bonds (his ex signed the prenup the day before their wedding) and author Terry McMillan (who discovered the young hubby who brought her groove back was gay). "Everything else is up for grabs."
So if Simpson had planned ahead, she could have limited Lachey's football-watching plus protected her Dukes of Hazzard and Dessert cosmetics dollars.
"People have their own little peculiar peccadilloes they're concerned about," said attorney Leon Bennett, who has represented Marlon Brando, Kelsey Grammer and Dennis Hopper. "People of wealth have a sense they have power over others that their money can acquire, and reality shows it can."
High-profile prenups typically contain confidentiality clauses to keep them out of the public eye, Nachshin said.
Infidelity clauses are common, Nachshin said. Michael Douglas agreed to pay Catherine Zeta-Jones millions should he stray, and Denise Richards made similar requirements of Charlie Sheen.
Most states consider anything earned or bought after the wedding day to be community property. Prenuptial pacts can determine the distribution of most things the couple shared, from art collections to country club memberships.
False. Nine states have community property rules, most of them in the Southwest, because the custom derives from Spanish law.
Deny me my football? No marriage here.
Now MoDo is really very sad.
Jessica is a midget?
The camera can really distort things. She is actually a 4'-7" 70 year old male bookie from Sun Valley.
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