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This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jackie Combs, partner at Blank Rome. It has been edited for length and clarity.
When a celebrity relationship turns into a love story, they often have a member of their team reach out to me or a lawyer like me. Usually, it’s a business manager or wealth manager who has been tasked with making sure their client protects their reputation and net worth with a prenuptial agreement.
The discussion about prenups happens well before there’s even a ring. Most celebrities and high-net-worth individuals won’t even talk about marriage until their partner has agreed to a prenup. It can take months to nail down a complex prenup, and the document can be 100 pages long or more, so the process starts early.
And although prenups are becoming normalized for all couples, there are some quirks in prenups for the ultrawealthy that you may not expect.
Prenups mention what spouses can (and can’t) post online
It’s typical for prenups to detail what each partner can (and can’t) post on social media. No one wants their spouse venting about them or their company online, even after the marriage ends. Oftentimes, prenups have confidentiality and nondisclosure clauses, which prevent a partner from penning a tell-all memoir or even a disparaging Instagram post.
They outline lifestyle expectations during the marriage
Prenups aren’t just about what happens if a marriage fails. They can also dictate lifestyle expectations during the marriage. The document might outline how much discretionary spending money one spouse gets a month, or dictate that they get a new car every few years. This is especially common if one spouse is extraordinarily wealthy and the other doesn’t have a comparable amount of money.
They might dictate a cash gift amount
Another common feature in high-net-worth prenups is an annual cash gift that one spouse gives the other. This gives the spouse with fewer assets control over money. They’re free to spend, invest, or save the gift amount.
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There are five-figure caps on spousal support
Most prenups for wealthy couples include caps on the amount of spousal support a person can claim. Those caps can be high — $10,000 or $20,000 a month — and often increase based on the couple’s length of time together.
Divorces happen with private judges
Privacy is of the utmost importance to my celebrity and high-net-worth clients, and there’s language in prenups to ensure privacy even if a divorce happens. Most prenups mandate that if the couple decides to get divorced, they do mediation with a retired judge.
But that’s not all. If they can’t come to an agreement, the prenup will mandate that rather than filing for divorce in a public court, they hire a judge privately. Both parties agree to follow that judge’s ruling, so that the divorce can be handled out of the public eye.
There’s a penalty for not following the prenup
My clients spend tens of thousands of dollars on prenups, so they want to make sure it will work for them if it needs to. To make sure people follow the prenup, most have penalty clauses, where one partner will be essentially fined if they contest the prenup.
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