Prenuptial pacts preferred
According to an old Thai proverb, when people are in love, even the taste of bitter vegetable juice is sweet. Thus, many couples do not prepare in time for a reality check: how to divide their money when they divorce.
Rendered asunder, they face the ticklish problem of how exactly to split their assets. And this is the problem that Sir Paul McCartney is facing with his high-profile divorce from Heather Mills. As Sir Paul forgot to make a prenuptial agreement before he exchanged wedding vows, the former Beatle must hire a lawyer now to defend his fortune at the bitter end of a four-year marriage. Unfettered by a prenuptial agreement, Mills reportedly requested exorbitant damage claims. Rumour has it McCartney had to freeze his wife's access to their joint banking account after she withdrew £1 million (Bt69.78 million) in a single month while the divorce had yet to be settled. While McCartney probably wants to bang his head against the wall, punishing himself for not thinking ahead, Thai couples are generally shy about making a prenuptial agreement. They think such a deal would be a jinx or curse on their marriage. But Sir Paul's experience may serve as a lesson to them. Recently, Anna Nicole Smith, former Playboy Playmate, almost walked away penniless after the death of her Texas oil tycoon husband, J Howard Marshall II, because of claims made by Marshall's son, Pierce Marshall. Smith married Marshall in 1994, when he was 89 and she was a 26-year-old topless dancer in Houston. Marshall died a year later. After years of legal wrangles in court, Anna Nicole Smith might have a chance to cash in after a recent decision by the United States Supreme Court to hear her case. Of course, money is not the main factor for marriage. But when the marriage ends, only alimony serves as consolation for a lost love. Irina Abramovich, wife of Roman, owner of the English football club Chelsea, didn't waste time shedding tears after the British tabloids revealed her husband was having an affair with a young model. Irina promptly hired Britain's top divorce lawyer to fight for her half of Abramovich's fortune, an estimated ¤14 billion (a tidy packet of Bt656 billion). Wisely, Irina preferred to save her tears until after she lost the divorce lawsuit.
jeerawat@nationgroup.com
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