As mentioned in
last week’s blog, there are a myriad of issues to consider when it comes to the pending
divorce between model Heidi Klum and the artist known as Seal. Since we’ve
already discussed the custody of Seal’s non-biological child, we should
move on to the next most interesting topic – what is going to happen with
all the money? All we know so far is that there is a lot of it.
According to
Forbes Magazine, it is unclear whether or not there is a prenuptial agreement between
the parties. This can certainly make distributing millions and millions
of dollars between these two quite difficult. One would like to think
their presumably high-priced lawyers had the common sense to make them sign one.
As happy as a couple as they may have been, we all know the divorce rate
between celebrity couples is astronomically high. So high in fact, it
necessitates a weekly blog!
The parties were married for seven years. According to
Forbes Magazine, over the past 10 years Ms. Klum’s earnings were approximately $108.7
million, plenty of which was earned via her contract with Victoria’s
Secret. She now has a lucrative contract with New Balance. Forbes’
estimations indicate that Ms. Klum’s net worth is
significantly higher than Seal’s – $50 million to $70 million versus $10 million
to $15 million.
Perhaps the sales of Seal’s new album can help rectify that? Regardless,
it wouldn’t have an impact on any equalization payment he may be entitled to.
In Canadian law (and let’s assume for a minute that the parties are
Canadian), any money earned post-separation does not have an impact on
equalization. Post-separation income is, however, relevant to spousal
and child support payments.
If we also assume each of the parties’ Net Family Properties is reflective
of their estimated net worth, then how would the division of their finances play out?
Section 5 of the
Family Law Act, which applies to married couples going through the divorce process, reads
as follows:
Equalization of net family properties
Divorce, etc.5.(1) When a divorce is granted or a marriage is declared a nullity, or when
the spouses are separated and there is no reasonable prospect that they
will resume cohabitation, the spouse whose net family property is the
lesser of the two net family properties is entitled to one-half the difference
between them.Assuming the estimates in
Forbes Magazine are accurate, then how much money would Seal be entitled to? According to the
Family Law Act, he could receive anywhere from $17.5 million to $30 million. From an
outsiders perspective, it may seem absurd that someone with a net worth
of $10 million+ could be entitled to many more millions of dollars, but
under typical circumstances (i.e. when the numbers aren’t staggeringly
high) entitlement to half of the difference of each parties’ Net Family
Property seems more “fair.”
For Ms. Klum’s sake, let’s hope that prenuptial agreement does
in fact exist.