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According to New Idea published on 9 July 2020, Keith Urban won’t get a cent of Nicole Kidman’s fortune!

 

Apparently, it can “now be revealed that the couple’s eye-watering prenuptial agreement was, in legal terms, made null and void in the first year of their marriage due to a secret clause written in by Nicole’s lawyers. And if recent widespread allegations that their relationship is struggling are true, Nicole, 53, could stand to take a large chunk of their fortune”.

 

I doubt that this is true. I’m sure Keith’s lawyers aren’t that stupid that they got tricked by some secret clause that leaves Nicole, 53, (why the article had to mention her age, I don’t know) with a large chunk of their fortune. I really doubt that if the two separated, Keith is going to be surprised by some secret clause he wasn’t aware of.

 

However, I have had clients come to me after separation with a Contracting Out Agreement (Pre-nup) and they are surprised by what some of the clauses mean. I really recommend when getting advice on a Contracting Out Agreement, make your Relationship Property Lawyer explains clearly the effect of each of the clauses and the implications on your property should you separate in the future. I also recommend that you see a lawyer who specializes in relationship property because not all lawyers will understand the implications of each clause because they wouldn’t have read all the New Zealand cases to know what can happen.

 

According to the article, “reports around the time of the couple’s star-studded 2006 Sydney wedding, their legal agreement stipulated that for every year they were married, Keith – who at the time was significantly less famous than Nicole – was entitled to $930,000”. Wow, that’s pretty good if it is true. That’s not a clause I would put into a Contracting Out Agreement because you don’t know the future. What if they stay together for 30 years and Keith enjoys helping Nicole spend her money until it is all gone. Then they separate and he gets almost $30 million of Nicole’s money (while he still has his own money) just because they stayed together for 30 years.

 

However, according to the article, “it came with a very big “but” – namely, if Keith, 52, [honestly, does anyone care how old he is?] relapsed into his widely known drug and alcohol addiction, the contract between the pair would become null and void. Yeah, I doubt the contract would become null and void. Wouldn’t Nicole want the Contracting Out Agreement to stand even more if he relapses? Maybe, New Idea want to say that the clause where Keith gets almost $1M per year will be null and void but the rest of the agreement still stands. I expect that Nicole has a pretty iron-clad Contracting Out Agreement because her net worth is $360 million while Keith’s is $110 million. I doubt her pre-nup becomes void at any stage. I’m sure it is going strong and will very much hold up should the two separate.

 

Apparently, “Keith infamously found himself in rehab just months into their marriage”, which means that he broke the agreement. Does that mean if they separate, he doesn’t get the $930,000 for each year they are married? Oh no, what incentive does he have now to stay together? [scarcasm]. Obviously money wasn’t the driver for Keith because they have been together for 14 years now.

 

According to the New Idea’s source, “I guess on paper she doesn’t owe him a cent, but once you have kids that changes things. Plus, Nicole isn’t a nasty person and she’ll always want to make sure the father of her girls gets a fair deal … unless he really screwed up somehow.” Honestly, the guy has $110 million of his own.Does he need anything from Nicole?