WE WANT PRENUP!

KATIE PRESTRIDGE

I. INTRODUCTION

Celebrity gossip has a hold on almost every person across the country.

Whether it be celebrity marriages, pregnancies, or cheating scandals, we each

hold a stake in the personal lives of celebrities, whether we care to admit that

or not. Celebrity divorces, and the prenuptial agreements invoked during those

proceedings, are also not immune to becoming national spectacles. Some of

our favorite celebrity couples, such as Kim Kardashian and Kanye West,

Brad

Pitt and Angelina Jolie,

and most recently Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen,

and their high-stakes divorces have taken up hours of media attention. But in

these highly publicized celebrity divorces, what are the legal devices

celebrities use to speed along their divorce and come out with the most asset

protections possible? And what dire consequences can precipitate when a

couple does not sign such agreement prior to their marriage?

II. THE PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT

The prenuptial agreement, or “prenup,” is one of those devices that

works to ensure that a celebrity and their worth are protected during a divorce.

A prenup is a written contract created by two people before they are married.

Prenups typically list all of the property each person owns and specifies what

each person’s property rights will be after the marriage.

If a couple chooses

to forego the creation of a prenup, state laws then determine who owns the

property acquired during the marriage and in some instances, the property each

individual owned before they were married.

Therefore, prenups act as a

safeguard for both parties’ property and assets.

Katie Prestridge is a second-year law student at the Ohio State University Moritz

College of Law and a Staff Editor for the Journal on Dispute Resolution. She is interested

in dispute resolution as it pertains to all areas of the law.

See Infamous Celebrity Prenuptial Agreements, BOYD L.,

https://www.boydlawlosangeles.com/infamous-celebrity-prenuptial-agreements/ (last

visited Nov. 14, 2022).

See id.

See Emily Smith & Sara Nathan, Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen’s ‘Ironclad’

Prenup Revealed, PAGE SIX (Nov. 2, 2022, 2:33 PM),

https://pagesix.com/2022/11/02/tom-brady-and-gisele-bundchens-ironclad-prenup-

revealed/.

Prenuptial Agreements: Who Needs It and How Do I Make One?, NOLO,

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/prenuptial-agreements-overview-29569.html

(last visited Nov. 14, 2022).

Id.

JDR Online [Vol. 1.3: 2023]

While celebrities are more likely to sign prenups due to their

significant net-worth and complicated assets, lawyers have reported a five-fold

increase in prenuptial agreements over the past twenty years in the unions

between everyday people.

Across the board, sixty-two percent of attorneys

have also seen an increase in the total number of clients who are seeking

prenups in the past three years.

As of recent, forty percent of married or

engaged people between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four have signed

prenups.

Some lawyers have attributed this increase in prenups among

“ordinary people” to an interest in the “tidiness and the finality that they

perceive they might have if they have a prenuptial agreement.”

Yet, for the

other sixty percent of young married or engaged individuals who have not

signed prenups, a recent celebrity divorce and subsequent defamation trial may

serve as an influential case study in favor of prenuptial agreements.

III. THE JOHNNY DEPP AND AMBER HEARD CASE

A. Depp and Heard’s Early Relationship and Marriage

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard began their romantic relationship in

2012 and were subsequently engaged in 2014.

After a seemingly whirlwind

engagement, the pair married in California in 2015.

Yet after an even greater

Kelli Grant, Prenups: Not Just for the 1 Percent, CNBC (Jan. 20, 2015, 6:49 PM),

https://www.cnbc.com/2015/01/20/prenups-not-just-for-the-1-percent.html.

Jessica Dickler, What Celebrities Can Teach US About Marriage (and Divorce),

CNBC (Aug. 19, 2018, 1:00 PM), https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/17/what-celebrities-

can-teach-us-about-marriage-and-divorce.html.

AJ Skiera, More Couples are Signing Prenups Before Saying “I Do”, HARRIS POLL

(July 12, 2022), https://theharrispoll.com/briefs/popularity-of-prenups-rising-2022/.

Michael Waters, Prenups Aren’t Just for Rich People Anymore, NEW YORKER (July

12, 2022), https://www.newyorker.com/news/us-journal/prenups-arent-just-for-rich-

people-anymore.

Jacob Sarkisian, Zac Ntim & Ayomikun Adekaiyero, A Complete Timeline of

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s Tumultuous Relationship, INSIDER (July 15, 2022, 11:12

AM), https://www.insider.com/johnny-depp-amber-heard-relationship-timeline-2020-

7#:~:text=Depp%20and%20Heard%20were%20dating%20by%20early%202012&text=I

n%20a%20court%20filing%2C%20Heard,after%2014%20years%20of%20dating.

Melody Chiu, Inside Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s Private Island Wedding

Ceremony, PEOPLE (Feb. 9, 2015, 3:00 PM), https://people.com/celebrity/inside-johnny-

depp-and-amber-heards-private-island-wedding-ceremony-photos/.

WE WANT PRENUP!

whirlwind marriage, Heard filed for divorce from Depp in 2016 and accused

him of physical abuse.

When all was said and done, Heard walked away with seven million

dollars in her divorce settlement from Depp.

Although it was well known

that Heard received a hefty sum in the settlement, many did not recognize the

significant implication of such settlement: that Johnny Depp and Amber Heard

did not sign a prenup before their 2015 marriage.

B. Implications of a Prenup, or Lack Thereof

At the time of Depp and Heard’s divorce, Depp’s net worth was

estimated to be more than eighteen times larger than his ex-wife’s.

During

their marriage, Depp worked on two major movie productions: Pirates of the

Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Alice Through the Looking Glass.

And under California law property laws, Heard may have been entitled to half

of all property and income accrued during their short fifteen month marriage

because of the pair’s lack of a prenuptial agreement.

That being said, a

marriage that barely lasted two years and a subsequent divorce could have

stripped Depp of his treasure in an instant.

But what if Heard and Depp had signed a prenuptial agreement prior

to their short-lived marriage? Attorneys speculate that a premarital agreement

between the pair could have made a world of difference for both Heard and

Depp. For example, it would certainly have protected Depp from such a sizable

financial settlement to Heard for just a sixteen-month marriage.

In addition,

legal experts assume that a prenup may have even protected Depp from the

Sarkisian et al., supra note 11; See Ashley Cullins, “I Was Petrified of the

Monster”: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard Legal Documents Shed New Light on Dual Abuse

Accounts, HOLLYWOOD REP. (Jan. 3, 2019, 6:59 AM),

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/johnny-depp-amber-heard-

legal-documents-shed-new-light-dual-abuse-accounts-1171081/.

Mike Miller, Amber Heard Honored for 7-Figure Donation to Children’s Hospital

Following Johnny Depp Divorce, PEOPLE (Apr. 9, 2018, 9:27 PM),

https://people.com/movies/amber-heard-makes-7-figure-donation-childrens-hospital-

after-johnny-depp-divorce/.

John M. Goralka, What if Johnny Depp and Amber Heard had a Premarital

Agreement?, BEST LAWYERS (May 27, 2022, 9:00 AM),

https://www.bestlawyers.com/article/johnny-depp-amber-heard-prenup/4501.

Chandra Moss, We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Prenup: Lessons for Johnny Depp,

HOLSTROM, BLOCK AND PARKER LAW, https://www.hbplaw.com/blog/2016/10/we-dont-

need-no-stinkin-prenup-lessons-for-johnn/ (last visited Nov. 15, 2022).

Id.

Goralka, supra note 15.

JDR Online [Vol. 1.3: 2023]

very recent and public defamation trial, if the prenup was used in conjunction

with a confidentiality agreement.

For Heard, a prenup might have protected

her own hard-earned assets and income (even if they were significantly less

than Depp’s), and a confidentiality agreement would have protected Heard

against the airing of her past dirty laundry.

C. Don’t Be like Johnny Depp, Get a Prenup

Attorney Arlene Dubin argued that Depp is a “poster boy for prenup”

and that “if you were checking off the boxes [of who should consider one], he

pretty much has them all.”

But even though Johnny Depp and Amber Heard

refused that safeguard, ordinary people should not follow in their footsteps.

As explained above, there are plenty of benefits for signing a prenup

that outnumber the disadvantages. Legal professionals agree that prenups are

exceedingly important for older couples and those who are remarrying, those

who enter the marriage with significant assets, those who have children from

prior relationships, and those who expect fame and significant income during

the union.

Even for young couples, a prenup forces them to think ahead and

gives them the opportunity to create an agreement “at a time when they are in

love and looking out for each other.”

There is a small group of lawyers that argue that prenups “can be very

dangerous” for “marital health.”

For instance, some think that prenups “lack

consideration” and “make you think less of your spouse” because prenups

show a “lack of commitment to the marriage and a lack of faith in the

partnership.”

In addition, some argue that “most prenups are much more

extreme than they need to be.”

Yet, stating that most prenups are much more

extreme than they need to be is an overstatement, and helps more couples than

hinders them. Finally, attorneys also state that prenups provide a “lifetime of

Goralka, supra note 15.

Kelli Grant, CFP, Don’t Be like Johnny Depp, Get a Prenup, CNBC (May 27, 2016,

1:02 PM), https://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/27/dont-be-like-johhny-depp-get-a-

prenup.html.

Id.

Laurie Israel, Why Prenups are Bad for Your Marital Health, ISRAEL VAN KOOY &

DAYS, LLC, https://ivkdlaw.com/the-firm/our-articles/prenuptial-agreements-and-

lawyering/why-prenups-are-bad-for-your-marital-health/ (last visited Dec. 2, 2022).

Id.

WE WANT PRENUP!

bad memories.”

Yet despite these arguments against prenups, the Johnny

Depp and Amber Heard is a great example of why prenuptial agreements are

essential for both celebrity and ordinary couples across the country.

IV. CONCLUSION

Prenuptial agreements, already a common practice among many

celebrity couples, are becoming increasingly more popular among everyday

couples. For many, prenups work as a safeguard to protect the assets they had

prior to their marriage and those they acquired during the marriage and make

already painful divorce proceedings easier and less time consuming. The case

of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard is perfect illustration of why, especially

celebrities and every day people should create and sign prenuptial agreements

prior to their unions. Johnny Depp entered their marriage with significantly

more assets and net-worth and could have protected them with a simple

signature. And while a few lawyers argue that prenuptial agreements are

detrimental to a marriage, the argued benefits far outweigh these

disadvantages in many relationships. Therefore, for those who have yet to get

married, think carefully about Kanye West’s hit-song Gold Digger and

whether you want a prenup, as well.

Id.

JDR Online [Vol. 1.3: 2023]