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International Prenups

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Welsh actress, Catherine Zeta-Jones married American actor, Michael Douglas. They reportedly have a prenuptial agreement that states she gets $2.8 million for each year of marriage, and a $5 million bonus if Michael has an affair.

While there are many benefits to prenuptial agreements in American marriages, the benefits of international prenups are multiplied when the spouses are from different countries, or hold foreign assets, or who contemplate living in other countries.

Prenuptial Agreements

A prenuptial agreement, sometimes called an “antenuptial agreement”, and/or “premarital agreement”, are commonly called “prenups.”  A prenup is a legal contract, much like any other legal contract, and it is entered into before a marriage by the couple intending to marry.

The contents of prenuptial agreements can vary widely. However, prenups commonly include clauses that spell out how to divide property accumulated before and after the marriage, and support or alimony in the event of divorce or death.

I’ve written on some of the more extreme clauses people insist be put in the prenups before. For example, prenups can include provisions to cover you in the event your spouse engages in excessive drug use, has extra-marital affairs, becomes an excessive spender, or begins a gambling habit.

International Prenuptial Agreements

A prenuptial agreement for international couples is generally a good idea, but international prenups have their own set of unique problems. For example, a prenup that is valid in Florida, may not be valid in another American state, let alone a different country.

When people live in different countries, hold foreign assets, or are planning to either marry overseas, or live in other countries, they should try to consider the law of all jurisdictions where they contemplate living.

There are many advantages and disadvantages to having an international prenup which states that the law of one country governs your divorce.

Issues with International Prenups

International prenups can involve couples from different countries, or couples from one country who live in different countries, or couples who have assets located overseas.

Since the law of each country can be very different, the choice of law clause in international prenups can take on great importance. Additionally, the language used in prenups can be extremely important for two reasons.

First, legal terms in the United States may have different legal meanings in other countries, or may not be terms recognized under foreign law.

Second, the enforceability of international prenups may just depend on whether it was understood by the signors, and they may not speak the language the agreement was written in sufficiently.

Whether in the United States, or in another county, make the effort to disclose all of the finances, even if financial disclosure may be waived in your country.

Additionally, any prenup should be signed well in advance of the wedding. In an ideal situation, the agreement should be fully signed before the wedding invitations even go out.

The Suggest article on the Zeta-Jones prenup is here.

 

Against All Odds: Voiding Prenups

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What do prenups, and singer Phil Collins have in common? We will soon find out. Phil may be a witness in a divorce trial where Phil’s ex-wife is testing the validity of an agreement she signed with her new husband.

As the Miami Herald reports, the five-day trial on the validity of an agreement is scheduled to start April 24. The trial is a part of Phil Collins’ ex-wife, Orianne Mejjati’s, current divorce from Miami developer Charles Fouad Mejjati.

This part of the trial is designed only to validate, or declare null and void, a prenup or postnup agreement that Orianne and Charles signed in May 2015 – about the time Collins moved to be near Orianne.

Under the agreement in question, Orianne would be forced to turn over her $10 million Miami Beach mansion to Charles, in addition to giving him half the value of her property near Geneva, Switzerland. It has been on the market for $62 million.

Easy Lover: Prenups and Postnups

I’ve written about prenups and postnups in the past. Prenuptial agreements, or “prenups,” are contracts entered into before marriage that outline the division of assets in case of divorce or death. Postnuptial agreements are contracts entered into after the marriage.

Both prenups and postnups help try to resolve things like alimony, ownership of businesses, title of properties, and even each spouse’s financial responsibilities during the marriage.

True Colors: Voiding Agreements

Because of Florida’s policy of enforcing agreements, prenups and postnups can be difficult to void – but not impossible. Florida has both case law and a statute to help lawyers, judges and the parties determine if a prenuptial agreement, for example, is enforceable.

In Florida, to test the validity of a prenuptial agreement, courts must consider things such as fraud, duress, coercion, in addition to the unfairness of the agreement, and whether there was any financial disclosure.

Under Florida’s Uniform Premarital Agreement Act, a prenup may not be enforceable if a party can prove, in part, that it was not signed voluntarily; or was the product of fraud, duress, coercion, or overreaching; or it was unconscionable.

Some of these defenses may also require a party to show they were not given a fair and reasonable disclosure of property, and did not voluntarily and expressly waive that right, and did not have adequate knowledge of the property or financial obligations of the other party.

That’s Just the Way It Is

In Orianne’s case, she stands to lose a large portion of her fortune, so Phil Collins has been cooperating with the court system. He was grilled by lawyers for several hours in January on what he knew about Orianne’s mental state when she signed the post-nuptial agreement.

According to media reports, Orianne now believes her condition at the time she signed the agreement made her legally incompetent to sign anything and says she was ‘coerced’ and ‘bullied.’ Charles’ side claims Orianne was properly represented by a lawyer, and he has been playing hard ball.

‘The husband threatened that he would disclose and make public allegations about the wife,’ Orianne’s original divorce petition reads.

‘That would cause the wife great personal, professional and social embarrassment, humiliation and upset and would, the husband threatened, also result in the wife losing custody of her child.’

In 2015, Phil Collins bought Jennifer Lopez’s old house for $33 million. Collins then paid Mejjati, a builder by trade, to make substantial alterations to the property where Lopez broke up with longtime love Ben Affleck in 2004. Within months, Orianne had left her husband, and moved in with Collins.

The Miami Herald article is here.

 

Prenups and Your Idea for a Killer App

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Agreements on Monday, January 9, 2017.

The New York Times reports that a growing number of people are signing prenuptial agreements to divide their intellectual property: things like iPhone app ideas, songs and restaurant concepts.

Protecting your ideas and future income – rather than on current salaries, real-estate and personal property – makes perfect sense in an age when intellectual property is so highly valued.

Employers increasingly require employees to sign away all future ideas and opportunities to compete with the company and divorcing partners too hope to keep these assets in case of a breakup.

I’ve written about prenuptial agreements before. Prenuptial agreements, or “prenups,” are contracts entered into before marriage that outline the division of assets in case of divorce or death.

Prenupts, and Post-nups (agreements entered after a marriage) resolve things like alimony, ownership of businesses, title of properties, and even each spouse’s financial responsibilities during the marriage.

There are many other concerns that can be addressed in a prenup: Caring for a parent; Going back to school; Shopping habits; Credit card debt; Tax liabilities; and even death or disability.

In the world of intellectual property, interpreting prenups for future intangibles is difficult: What did the parties actually mean to include? How are amorphous ideas and innovations to be valued?

There are dangers with this new prenup trend. Consider the example of a wife holding a steady job while the husband works on his app. They share the risk now, but if they divorce, the husband reaps the rewards of his intellectual property, and the prenup could ensure his ex-wife gets nothing.

Intellectual property – including music, art, literary works, films, scientific and medical developments, technology – is normally protected against third parties by copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade secrets.

But among couples, a need has developed to protect “ideas” conceived by either a bride or groom who see him or herself as the next Mark Zuckerberg. In the event of a divorce, these couples want protection for what may be each person’s most valuable asset – the product of their intellect or invention.

The New York Times article is here.

Mel Gibson & The Passion of the Agreement

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Agreements on Friday, August 12, 2016.

An ill-timed Howard Stern interview just saved Mel Gibson half a million dollars he would’ve paid his ex under their mediation settlement agreement.

The California 2nd District Court of Appeal denied Mel Gibson’s former girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, the remaining $500,000 of a pre-agreed $750,000 payment for staying silent about their turbulent relationship after she reneged on the deal by talking about Gibson on The Howard Stern Show in 2013.

I’ve written about prenuptial agreements and marital settlement agreements many times before. Agreements are always advisable in resolving relationship disputes as you have control, to a certain extent, over what happens with your future.

In Mel Gibson’s case, keeping his stormy relationship with his ex-girlfriend out of the media was a priority for the world famous actor, already battling bad press from his alcohol related rants.

In Florida, courts will try to enforce your agreements, sometimes even if the agreement has unfair provisions. A bad deal does not provide a legal basis for the court to rewrite the parties’ agreement or to set it aside.

That’s because bad domestic bargains – meaning unfair or unreasonable property and monetary settlement agreements – are still enforceable so long as they are knowing, voluntary and not otherwise against Florida public policy.

Gibson, 60, had already paid Oksana – the mother of his six-year old daughter Lucia – $250,000, but claims he is no longer obligated to pay her the remaining balance due to her forfeiting their agreement by appearing on the Howard Stern show.

The $750,000 had already been significantly reduced from its original figure, a staggering $15 million, to be paid on the condition that she keep secretly recorded audio-tapes out of the public arena.

But after Oksana, 46, released the tapes – in which Gibson can be heard using racist language and threatening to beat his then girlfriend – the amount Gibson had to pay was drastically reduced.

The appeal court’s ruling means the pianist has only received 1/60 of what she could have received from the star.

The article on Gibson’s big court win is here.

Divorce Mediation to Keep Costs Down

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Agreements on Wednesday, August 10, 2016.

Mediation is a great way to resolve your divorce without paying for a full trial. Choosing a mediator is the first step, and may be the most important decision you can reach in your divorce.

I’ve written about mediation several times before. Under Florida law, the parties to a divorce must attempt to resolve their difference through mediation before their case can proceed to trial. In many cases, mediation can be used earlier in the process to resolve all outstanding disputes before either party has filed for divorce.

In divorce mediation, the parties and their attorneys meet with a neutral mediator – sometimes together, sometimes separately – to try to negotiate a settlement agreement.

Ideally, both the mediator and the attorneys should have enough experience to anticipate what will happen if the case goes to trial. Drawing on that experience, they can help the parties negotiate an agreement without any need to have a judge decide the issues for them.

At mediation, you will discuss issues that are highly personal and emotional. Accordingly, there are many factors to think about when choosing the right family mediator. Below are a few to think about:

Trust is the most important consideration in choosing a family law mediator. Your mediator should be someone you feel comfortable with as a person and as a professional.

Specialization is another important criterion. Ask your attorney if the mediator in your case has a practice area dedicated to divorce and family mediation. Family is not an area to dabble in. To be effective in family mediations requires patience as well as skills. Ideally, you want the percentage to be 100%.

Cost is always an important consideration. While it can be expensive to spend the day in mediation, if you’re successful, you are likely to save thousands on your total legal fees. When comparing mediation fees, base your decision on selecting a mediator with a high success rate for settlements. $200 per hour sounds better than $400 per hour, but not if your $200 mediator spends 8 hours without a resolution, you have not saved anything.

To recap, when searching for a mediator in your divorce, don’t just hire the cheapest mediator you can find, look for:

1. Trust,

2. Specialization in family and divorce matters,

3. Cost.

Cohabitation Agreements: Prenups for the Unmarried

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Agreements on Wednesday, August 3, 2016.

Increasingly, couples are living together without marrying. Legally, that’s more complicated than marriage, because you don’t have as much legal protection. Fortunately, there is an agreement for that.

According a recent survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), 45% of the members find that legal disputes between unmarried couples who had previously lived together have been on the rise during the past three years. In all, 26% have cited an increase in cohabitation agreement requests from unmarried couples.

I’ve written about the need for cohabitation agreements before. It is important to remember that not being married does not prevent a partner from attempting to make a claim on your assets once a live-in relationships ends.

Some of the protections that cohabitating couples lose out on are the protections provided by divorce laws: the presumption that the father is the father, inheritance laws, survivor’s benefits and many others.

A cohabitating couple that decided to split up may encounter the same conflicts about dividing the house, splitting the joint bank accounts, paying off the joint loans timesharing and child support that married couples have. However, the laws are not the same.

As the Huffington Post reports, if cohabiting partners do not have a mutual understanding of their financial, the legal consequences may lead to financial devastation for one of the partners. It could also produce significantly complex property disputes that cause both sides to incur substantial legal fees to address.

Cohabitation Agreements are designed primarily to protect financial interests. Before moving in with a partner, a previously signed cohabitation agreement can serve as an effective tool to ensure that your finances and assets are adequately protected.

Many times, unmarried cohabitants put their labor and own money into a live-in relationship, many of which are long in duration, because they ultimately expect that they will receive benefits from the other party arising from the commitment to be in a long term relationship. In many cases, those expectations are dashed when the relationship ends without the benefit of a cohabitation agreement.

In order to minimize doubts, and to ensure that both parties understand each other’s expectations, a legal cohabitation agreement may help. Some general tips for an agreement can include:

– Support payments

– Selling or keeping the jointly owned home

– What to do with jointly owned property if someone dies

– Medical decisions

– Who pays household bills and taxes

Agreements are useful in resolving a big oversight in the law. This is especially important as more and more couples choose to live together rather than marry.

The Huffington Post article is here.

Israel’s Divorce Revolution

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Agreements on Monday, July 25, 2016.

Israel passed a law that requires divorcing couples to first try to hammer out agreements through mediation before they can file divorce legal proceedings.

The new law is formally referred to as the “Resolution of Family Disputes Law”, and more commonly known as the “Divorce Revolution” and was enacted on Sunday.

Israel’s Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked, pushed for the resolution, which aims to settle divorce cases in a peaceful and amicable manner. To this end, both parties will be given four mandatory mediation meetings free of charge.

I’ve written about foreign divorce dispute resolution attempts before. Mediation is another of the methods of alternative dispute resolution available to divorcing couples.

Mediation is essentially a negotiation facilitated by a neutral mediator, to resolve disputes. The mediator supervises, helps find common ground, deal with unrealistic expectations, and offer creative solutions.

Under Israel’s proposal, the first meeting will be held in a therapeutic environment without legal representation. The makeup of the remaining three meetings will be decided based on the initial meeting’s general atmosphere, in accordance with the mediation team’s assessment.

As long as the mediation meetings continue to be carried out amicably, the parties’ lawyers will not be asked to join in. If, however, legal matters arise or if either party requests their presence, they will be asked to take part in them. In cases of involving emergency relief, lawyers will be allowed to participate in all the mediation sessions.

Following the law’s enactment, Justice Minister Shaked issued a statement saying that:

“The new situation will offer an efficient alternative to litigation meetings over such sensitive and complex matters as family disputes. I am confident that this is what parents want most. At the end of the day, they continue to be their parents, even if they are no longer a couple.”

In Florida, most divorces are resolved through the mediation process, and it is usually ordered in most cases filed here. In some counties, it is required.

The Ynet article is available here.

Heat and Bull in Post-Judgment Agreements

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Agreements on Monday, July 11, 2016.

Dwyane Wade’s ex-wife isn’t over the divorce. She wants to throw out the settlement agreement, and get part of his new Chicago Bull’s contract. When you pull more bull, you can catch more heat.

After the basketball superstar signed a two-year, $47 million deal with his hometown Chicago Bulls, Wade’s ex-wife reportedly said she wants to re-open her divorce settlement.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Siohvaughn Funches asked a judge to throw out her settlement agreement with Wade, and give her a larger portion of his basketball earnings, including part of his new contract.

I’ve written about post-judgment divorce issues in the past. Now that Dwyane Wade is newly remarried, there may be an opportunity for Funches to request financial information from the new spouse.

Funches and Wade settled their divorce back in 2013 with a settlement exceeding $5 million. Now she wants more after learning that Dwyane signed a $47 million deal with the Chicago Bulls.

The two married in 2002 when Wade filed for divorce in 2007 and the court made the split official in 2010. Wade, who grew up with Funches in south suburban Robbins, won sole custody of their two children, Zaire and Zion.

That 2011 custody decision upset Funches, who staged a bizarre sit-in protest in Daley Plaza claiming Wade had left her “homeless.” A non-disparagement clause in the settlement prevents both sides from trading further insults about each other.

According to Funches’ website, she recently completed a self-published autobiography that includes details of how she says she survived the “turmoils of injustice and corruption in the legal system in America.”

The Chicago WGNTV has the story here.

Is There a Trump-nup Prenup?

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Agreements on Monday, July 4, 2016.

As a certain presidential candidate might say, “prenuptial agreements are yuuuuuuuuge”. If you’re marrying this summer, you should build a fantastic wall around your assets.

Many people don’t realize that prenuptial agreements serve many purposes; some of them are surprising. The New York Magazine reports on “lifestyle” clauses in prenups. Lifestyle provisions are clauses which can include things like:

– a “no-diaper” rule,

– a clause that specifies no children, or

– “fling fees” for infidelity.

But clauses can also get excruciatingly specific: whether the children will be raised vegetarian; how often a couple should have sex; how much time a couple will spend at their in-laws’ house; which nights a husband can watch football with his friends; how many hours a spouse will work during the week; how long a husband is expected to work before he retires; and, of course, how much weight a wife can gain.

You should know that these kinds of clauses are nearly impossible to enforce in court. They are added to prenuptial agreements to add an aspirational sense to the agreement; a sort of a declaration of what you expect in the marriage.

I’ve written about the need for prenups before. There are many other kinds of clauses in prenups that can be enforced. Prenuptial agreements are often used to limit or eliminate alimony and spousal maintenance awards, to protect assets that are titled in one spouse’s name, or protect you before premarital money becomes mixed.

Donald Trump, reportedly says that his prenuptial agreement with Melania Knauss has made his marriage stronger.

“It’s a hard, painful, ugly tool. Believe me, there’s nothing fun about it. But there comes a time when you have to say, Darling, I think you’re magnificent, and I care for you deeply, but if things don’t work out, this is what you’re going to get.”

The New York magazine article is here.

More Mideast News: Saudi Marriage Contracts

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Agreements on Monday, May 23, 2016.

Speeding into the 21st Century, Saudi Arabian brides will now get a copy of their prenuptial agreements, in the latest women’s rights breakthrough in the kingdom.

Another post from the Middle East. Women can now receive their marriage contracts. Saudi Arabian media is hailing this a “great step forward for women”! The disturbing reality is that Saudi women had no idea about their marriage rights before being wed.

This presented a problem, as women who married secretly have had to face frustrating legal wrangles with their husbands denying their formal relationships.

In some cases, wives have had trouble with the families of their husbands determined to deprive them of their inheritance and other rights following their husband’s death. The women had no formal evidence they got married since they did not have copies of their marriage.

Justice Minister Waleed Al Samaani said that the decision allows women to be fully aware of their rights and of the marriage contract conditions.

Under the minister’s decision, two copies of the contracts are given to the groom and the bride and each must sign to acknowledge they received it.

I’ve written about prenuptial agreements many times. Prenups can address many issues, including: Caring for a parent; Going back to school; Shopping habits; Credit card debt; Tax liabilities; Alimony and child support from previous relationships; and Death or disability.

In Saudi Arabia, the copy of the contract will also allow women to check all the details of the marriage contract, including the prenuptial agreement and the amount of money to be paid in case of divorce or the possibility for the wife to take up a job.

Last week, an Arab woman who got married with a rich Saudi businessman won a legal case against his family following his death after her lawyer successfully proved their formal marriage.

The wife had no copy of the contract and the husband’s family rejected her marriage claims. She eventually won the case when the lawyer was able to convince the two witnesses of the marriage to come forward and give their testimonies.

The 22-year-old woman, from an Arab country, was given SR67 million (about $17.9m) as her share of the inheritance. She and her husband were married for only one month when he had a heart attack and died.

The Gulf News article can be found here.