After the proposal, celebrity couples often have another major question to ask one another: Should we get a prenuptial agreement?
“We have a prenup, prenups are … do you know what kind of day and age this is? Everybody needs a prenup!” Khloé Kardashian told E! News in June 2011, referring to her then-husband, Lamar Odom. “I mean, I don’t care if you make $5 or $5 million, in this day and age … people are crazy, you never know. And when you have businesses together, like we do, you have to protect yourself. It doesn’t mean you don’t love them.”
A prenuptial agreement — or prenup — is a contract drawn up by the couple before they get married that typically lists their assets and specifies how everything will be divided up in the event of a divorce. However, they can also include specific mandates, like the “no cheating” clause that Teresa Giudice had in her prenup with ex-husband Joe Giudice.
“A week before we were getting married, Joe asked me to sign a prenup and I just felt when you love someone, you don’t do that,” she revealed on a January 2020 episode of Real Housewives of New Jersey. “I didn’t even read it. I just said, ‘I want you to put one thing in there. If you ever cheat, the prenup is void.'”
Some celebrity couples, however, opt out of a prenup when they decide to tie the knot. “I wish I would have signed a prenup [when I married Nick Lachey],” Jessica Simpson confessed during a February 2020 appearance on The Dr. Oz Show. “The funny thing is that Nick wanted me to sign a prenup, and I was so offended. I was like, ‘But we’re going to be together for the rest of our lives!'”
Occasionally, a couple’s whirlwind romance gets in the way of their ability to sort things out in advance. When Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber (née Baldwin) secretly got married in a courthouse ceremony in September 2018, a source told Us Weekly that they had reached out to lawyers about drafting a prenup, but there wasn’t enough time to get everything settled.
“He was somebody I’d always cared about so deeply and loved very deeply,” Hailey told Elle in February 2020 about getting engaged to the “Yummy” singer just one month after they reconnected in June 2018. “He’s an incredible, amazing man and such a good partner to go through life with. There is no one else I would have ever wanted to spend my life with except him. So, I’m lucky.”
Keep scrolling to learn which celebrity couples did and did not have a prenup:
When the Open Book author married the former boy band member in October 2002, she was "offended" by the prospect of getting a prenup, she later told Dr. Oz. However, once the couple called it quits three years later, Simpson felt that she had made a mistake by not getting one. “I wish I would’ve signed a prenup,” she said during her February 2020 appearance on the show. London Entertainment/Shutterstock
A legal insider confirmed to Us in September 2021 that the couple had "no legal document in place to establish their separate property and financial rights in the event of a divorce." Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
The "Hollaback Girl" performer didn't have a prenup in place when she married Rossdale in September 2002, making both musicians legally entitled to an equal half of the money they made during their 13-year relationship. When they split in August 2015, a source told Us that the Bush frontman agreed to an "unequal split" of their assets, giving Stefani more money. Before she and Blake Shelton tied the knot in July 2021, however, the No Doubt frontwoman made sure an agreement was in place. “They have been in prenup talks for a few months,” a source told Us in November 2020. “The process has been extremely effortless.” Al Powers/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
The "Pineapple Express" star's business manager recommended that he get a prenup before marrying Lauren Miller in October 2021 — but he decided against it. "Marriage can be expensive, and if I lose millions, then it'll be the best millions I've spent," he told Howard Stern in January 2011. John Salangsang/Shutterstock
“I feel like people look at [prenups] as like a dirty thing that we shouldn’t talk about, but honestly, I feel like there is some romanticism to it," the Vanderpump Rules alum told Page Six in February 2020. "Being able to be so close to someone that you’re willing to have those uncomfortable conversations ... it’s brought me closer to Beau the more that we talk about it." Rob Latour/Shutterstock
The reality star claimed that Joe was the one who "made [her] sign a prenup" before their 1999 wedding on a January 2020 episode of Real Housewives of New Jersey. "A week before we were getting married, Joe asked me to sign a prenup and I just felt when you love someone, you don’t do that," she explained, noting that she almost called off the wedding as a result. "Being Italian, I have old-school parents, and it’s an embarrassing thing to call off a wedding." Teresa added: "I didn’t even read it, I just said, ‘I want you to put one thing in there. If you ever cheat, the prenup is void.'" Curtis Means/Shutterstock
The Bring it On star didn't have any legal agreements in place when she married NFL player Chris Howard in 2001 and she was determined not to make the same mistake twice. (They split in 2006.) "The biggest difference between this and the last marriage will be a prenup – at my insistence,” Union told Arsenio Hall in February 2014, after getting engaged to the NBA player. “When you have your own stuff, you don't need to worry about anyone else's stuff. So everyone should go into the relationship knowing 'I'm here for you and you're here for me.' And the reality is, I’ve never seen Dwyane balance a checkbook.” She continued: "I've got to protect my stuff. It's the wave of the future, protecting your stuff." Matt Baron/Shutterstock
The Good American co-founder is a strong advocate for prenups. "Everybody needs a prenup!" she told E! News in June 2011. "I mean, I don't care if you make $5 or $5 million, in this day and age ... people are crazy, you never know. And when you have businesses together, like we do, you have to protect yourself. It doesn't mean you don't love them." Kardashian and Odom got married in September 2009 and their divorce was finalized in December 2016. Casey Rodgers/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
"I said 'No, I don't want a prenup,' but I really wanted a prenup. Really bad. But I said no, I don't want one," Shepard told Conan O'Brien about the discussions he had with Bell ahead of their October 2013 wedding. something good came over me for once and I made the right decision. But the joke is now on her because she's become much more successful than me and has much more money than me." Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
0 Comments