Prenuptial agreements among married celebrities in California have become commonplace. Such an agreement guided the terms of the divorce between actress Kaley Cuoco and athlete Ryan Sweeting. People magazine published the final figures, and Sweeting came out ahead in the split although Cuoco will not be paying ongoing spousal support.
Nine months of negotiations went into the dissolution of their two-year marriage. Cuoco agreed to pay her ex-husband two installments of $165,000. Additionally, she signed off on an agreement that required her to cover Sweeting’s legal bills. One of his bills reached nearly $10,000, and she will also be paying his other attorney’s fees for an amount up to $55,000.
Both people have moved on from their lives together. Nonetheless, their celebrity split illustrates that the process for a high-asset divorce can be a lengthy one. Although a prenuptial agreement was in place for the couple, such a document only establishes a starting point for negotiations. Furthermore, a prenuptial agreement is only valid if it is created before the wedding. If the document is not created before the wedding, then a couple can create a postnuptial agreement during the marriage, but both types of documents are subject to conditions that make them judicially enforceable.
A person entering the divorce process might choose to acquire the representation of a family law attorney. With legal support, a person could assert claims to nonmarital property and strive for an equitable division of property in court. An attorney could also help lead negotiations and work to buffer a person from hostile confrontations when contentious issues like child custody or spousal support are being discussed.