So much for The Vow. Channing Tatum and his wife came out Fighting, announcing their divorce. The appreciation of their properties and investment makes their property division quite The Dilemma – even if they don’t become Public Enemies.
This is the End
The former couple, Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan, both 37, announced their separation on Monday after almost nine years of marriage and after welcoming their daughter in 2013.
We have lovingly chosen to separate…love is a beautiful adventure that is taking us on different paths for now [who writes these? ed.].
According to People, it’s estimated that Tatum made $60 million in 2013 for movies like The Vow, 21 Jump Street, Magic Mike and G.I. Joe: Retaliation. He also launched his own vodka line during the marriage.
Property Division
I’ve written extensively about property divisions. Equitable distribution, as property division is called in Florida, requires courts to set aside each spouse’s non-marital assets and debts, and then distribute the marital assets and debts.
Marital assets and liabilities include, in part, assets acquired and liabilities incurred during the marriage, individually by either spouse or jointly by them.
Marital property then, could include Tatum’s vodka business and other valuable assets purchased during the marriage.
Step Up
Complicating matters is that Tatum was not as well-known when he married. After their marriage both of their careers grew, the stock market rebounded, and home values rocketed.
The Tatum divorce shows how stakes can rise during a marriage, and how improvements to marital – and even non-marital or premarital assets – can come into play.
Florida recently amended a law dealing with whether there is a marital portion of a nonmarital house with a mortgage paid down by marital money, and if so, how to divide the marital portion.
The issue of the appreciation of non-marital property paid with marital funds includes two components:
- a portion of the enhanced value of the marital asset resulting from the contributions of the nonowner spouse and
- a portion of the value of the passive appreciation of that asset that accrued during the marriage.
The new law amends our statute, and establishes a new statutory formula.
Haywire
The best way to avoid the process of an expensive property division case is to have a prenuptial agreement and a post-nuptial agreement to discuss these issues before the divorce.
Alternatively, the issues can be taken care of in a private mediation. As a last resort, they will have to fight the case in court, and have a judge decide the issues.
As a general rule, divorce litigation is something that should be avoided because things go haywire. Court battles are long, painful and expensive.
One of the other Side Effects, is that divorce also bleeds into every aspect of a person’s professional and personal life.
The People article is here.