Last week Eva Longoria filed for divorce from her husband of three years,
Tony Parker. The divorce petition cited “irreconcilable differences”
as the reason for the split and outlines that she is seeking spousal support
from Tony. The couple signed a prenuptial agreement before their wedding
and updated it last year. Eva and Tony have no children.
What would happen if Eva brought an Application for Divorce in Ontario?
There are three main issues pertinent to this divorce Application: the
marriage contract, spousal support, and equalization. Each will be dealt
with here in turn.
The marriage contract (also known as a Prenuptial Agreement in the United States):
Without knowing any of the details of this document it is difficult to
determine the impact it would have on the outcome of this matter. This
document may contain terms which will assist in the division of property
and support obligations. That being said, either party may apply to the
court to have the contract set aside for one of the following reasons:
- a party has failed to disclose to the other significant assets or debts
that existed at the time the contract was entered into; - for general reasons such as undue influence, duress, mistake, etc.
- a party did not understand the nature or consequences of the contract; or
In the event that the agreement was set aside, this matter would be dealt
with by the Court as if there was never a
marriage contract in place.
Spousal Support
It has been reported that Eva is seeking spousal support from Tony. As
there have been no reports that she is also seeking to set aside the prenuptial
agreement, it may be assumed that support obligations were not contained
therein. If Eva were to bring this claim in Ontario, the Court would first
consider whether Eva was entitled to support. In order to determine that
Eva is entitled to support the Court would look at such factors as whether
she is in need of support, or if she had made a contribution to the marriage
that she should be compensated for in some way.
Based on the known facts of this case, both parties are high income earners.
It would be difficult to prove that Eva is in need of support, however,
if she is able to show that she contributed to the marriage in a way that
she should be compensated for, then a Court may determine that she is
entitled to support from Tony. In this case, as the parties have only
been married for three years, and Tony was a high-profile NBA player before
the marriage, it would likely be difficult to show that Eva contributed
to the marriage in such a way that she should be compensated. Therefore,
based on what is known at this time, it would be unlikely that Eva would
be entitled to
spousal support.
Equalization
In the event that the prenuptial agreement is set aside, an equalization
of the parties Net Family Property would have to occur. In Ontario, this
calculation determines how much the spouse with the higher Net Family
Property is entitled to pay to the other. Not knowing which spouse earns
more in this case or anything regarding the couple’s assets, it is
impossible to determine which spouse would be responsible for an
equalization payment to the other.