There’s little the press loves more than juicy gossip. So when Kim Kardashian recently filed for divorce from Kanye West, the speculative buzz began in newspapers and on TV networks available in Maryland, Washington DC and around the world: Which famous spouse would saunter off with millions wrested from the other in a vicious court battle? The answer, according to Yahoo Finance, undoubtedly disappointed many who were hoping for scandalous Kimye headlines: Neither one will do that.
The couple has a prenuptial agreement (also called a premarital agreement) that neither one is contesting. In other words, they agreed before their marriage on some of the most important terms of a divorce. While we don’t know the details of their prenup, we do know that premarital agreements can help individuals retain in divorce property and assets they possessed before the marriage.
Assets that can be protected
Here are some of the assets frequently included in prenuptial agreements:
- Businesses
- Retirement benefits
- Income
- Savings accounts
Decision-making
Prenups can also used by couples to clarify decision-making processes and agreements, including the following:
- Management of household expenses
- Management of investments
- Management of credit cards and payments
- Savings contributions
- Arrangements regarding one spouse putting the other through school
Some premarital agreements also contain provisions outlining the use of arbitration or mediation to settle certain types of disputes that occur in the course of the marriage.
Busting a myth
The prevailing prenup myth is that these agreements only make sense for the very rich, like Kim and Kanye. The reality is that premarital agreements can help to prevent discord in marriage and ward off adversarial, costly litigation in divorce for anyone with assets.
The assets can include a house, a 401(k), business, family heirlooms, an inheritance, etc. – the types of assets held by many in the Montgomery County area who aren’t as rich and famous as Kimye.
