Katy Perry & Russell Brand: Another case for a Pre-Nup

This week comedian Russell Brand filed for divorce from pop star Katy Perry.  The two have been married for approximately 14 months. 

Although both were celebrities before the marriage, and had accumulated money, real estate and other items, there was no pre-nuptial agreement between them.  Add to this the fact that Brand is an admitted recovering drug and sex addict and Perry is a (Christian?) party girl and one wonders what these people were thinking by getting married without an agreement on how things would go when/if they split.

In a similar situation this week, Mel Gibson paid his ex-wife over around $425 million, as there was no pre-nup.  Paul McCartney and Heather Mills, Michael Jordan and his ex-wife Juanita, Madonna and Guy Ritchie.  The list goes on and on of people who gamble big at love, marriage and finances and lose big.  At least these (rich) people have the guidance of attorneys, accountants, managers and executives to advise them to get a pre-nup, whereas the average person does not.

But, the reality is that most couples need to consider how the break-up would go.  People who need pre-nups are those who have assets (no matter how small), those who owe money (cars, student loans, mortgages etc), those who have children or plan to have children, and those who plan to acquire things (cars, houses, credit cards) during the marriage.  In short, everyone.

Planning for a break-up does not doom the relationship to failure.  If it is going to fail, it will fail on its own over money, sex, family, children, lack of attention, or any of a thousand other reasons.  All failing to plan does is prevent both parties from adequately preparing for the future.  Instead of waiting for a court to determine who gets what or how much one party will pay another, the couple knows how things will be divided (or have an approximation).

Pre-nups also force couples to consider the devastating consequences of divorce before the wedding.  It may be enough to encourage those hard conversations on children, work, religion, politics, family and money before the wedding, not after it.  Pre-nups require honesty in each person's financial situation as it exists prior to marriage.

Alas, it is too late for Perry & Brand, the Gibsons and McCartney.  They will have to fight it out in court over each and every dime.

Fortunately, this year also saw Kim Kardashian insist on a pre-nup, which came in very handy when her marriage collapsed after just 72 days.  At least she had some good financial advice.