What do Silvio Berlusconi, Rupert Murdoch, Mel Gibson and Amancio Ortega have in common? Well, in addition to being important public personalities who have triumphed in their respective fields, they are also famous for having gone through the “most expensive divorce ever” of their time, paying many millions over to their ex-wives to recover their bachelorhood. Blinded by love, they wed without considering the consequences of any subsequent breakup, when they could sign pre...
What do Silvio Berlusconi, Rupert Murdoch, Mel Gibson and Amancio Ortega have in common? Well, in addition to being important public personalities who have triumphed in their respective fields, they are also famous for having gone through the “most expensive divorce ever” of their time, paying many millions over to their ex-wives to recover their bachelorhood. Blinded by love, they wed without considering the consequences of any subsequent breakup, when they could sign prenuptial agreements.
Thanks to the stars of Hollywood, we are all familiar with these “prenups”, which are commonly signed prior to the marriage ceremony without being regarded as a sign of mistrust or a lack of love. Ever since the famous case Posner v. Posner, heard before the Florida Supreme Court, which ruled that divorce is, indeed, something that can be negotiated between future spouses, other US courts also began to recognise agreements governing any future breakup. Well, although many people are not aware of the fact, alongside its chapters on marriage, Catalan legislation expressly regulates this legal concept under the name “Covenants in anticipation of marital breakdown”. Although this was already contemplated by Catalonia’s Family Code, the provisions of the current Article 231.20 of its Civil Code are far more detailed, with a wording that is very similar to that of Section 7.05 of the Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution of the American Law Institute, an organisation that tries to standardise US state law.
To read the full article written by our lawyer Estefanía Fernández, please click here. The article is in Spanish.