Celebrities and Prenups: A Formula for Failure

Alas, we’ve found something dumber than getting your spouse’s name tattooed on your arm. It absolutely amazes me that celebrities still get married these days without concluding the prenup business first. With a 50% and rising, nation-wide divorce rate, and non-stop high-profile divorce d.r.a.m.a everywhere you look, you’d think people would start to catch on. We live in a world where 55-hour marriages happen and they’re kind of not that big of a deal. Even TV actress Jana Kramer and her husband of one month, Jonathan Schaech, just filed for divorce. That’s right, one month. And Elizabeth Taylor had how many husbands?

Kelsey Grammer is the latest of the celebs to face the divorce papers after his wife of 13 years, Camille Donatacci Grammer (wife #3), filed for divorce not six weeks ago (and P.S., 55-year-old Grammer just found out his new 29-year-old girlfriend – and where did she come from suddenly? – is expecting his fifth child). See? Drama. Yet even given his past, having been married twice before, Grammer didn’t feel it necessary to have Donatacci sign a prenuptial agreement before the wedding vows. And now she has claim to syndication residuals from the last 7 seasons of “Frasier.”

When Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe got married in 1999, they also decided against a prenup. Then 6 years later when they divorced, they had to split their earnings. And she was making 10 times more than he was at the time. Good for him.

And let us not forget Sir Paul McCartney and his disastrous divorce to Heather Mills, which ended horrifically after only 4 years.  Sure, they were in love, but I would put $48.7 million on him never making that mistake again.

Sandra Bullock on the other hand, now here’s a gal who uses her head – her cheating ex, Jesse James, won’t get a dime of her Miss Congeniality cash.  She was smart enough to have him sign a prenuptial agreement before the I love yous and together forevers, keeping her assets and property out of his hands.

It may not feel great to have the conversation, to rain on the parade and predict a chance of divorce, but ask Kelsey Grammer if he would do anything differently if given the chance to go back and do it all again.

Cheers to you, Frasier Crane.
I sure hope you’ve got a good family law firm.