Famed saxophonist Kenny G (real name Kenneth Bruce Gorelick) has filed
for divorce from his wife after 20 years of marriage. Wife Lyndie Helene
Benson-Gorelick filed for legal separation back in January, but it was
Mr. G who got the ball rolling by filing divorce papers in the L.A. Superior
Court on August 9, 2012. The couple, married in 1992, stated “irreconcilable
differences” as the reason for the split. The long curly locked crooner
also asked the court for joint legal and physical custody of the couple’s
14-year-old son, Noah.
The Grammy winner’s net worth is valued at approximately $50 million
and according to TMZ.com, the documents filed indicate there IS a pre-nup!
What weight will this pre-nup have in court after 20 years of marriage?
In Ontario, pre-nuptial agreements are known as
marriage contracts. According to s. 52 of the
Family Law Act, two people who are married or intend to get married can enter into a
contract in which they agree on their respective rights and obligations
under the marriage or on separation. The contract can deal with issues such as:
- ownership in and division of property;
- support obligations;
-
the right to direct the education and moral training of their children, but
not the right to custody of or access to their children; and - any other matter in the settlement of their affairs.
While couples can agree on the upbringing of their children, they are not
allowed to agree in amarriage contract on who would have custody of and access to any children they may have in
the future.
Furthermore, they are not able to agree in their marriage contract on the
limiting of either of their rights to the matrimonial home. If there was
a clause which was put into the contract limiting the rights to the matrimonial
home, it would be unenforceable.
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; - a party did not understand the nature or consequences of the contract; or
- for general reasons such as undue influence, duress, mistake, etc.
In the event that the contract is set aside, this matter would be dealt
with by the Court as if there was never a marriage contract in place.
Often when spouses have marriage contracts in place and they attempt to
have them set aside, they may argue that specific clauses were not clear
enough or they did not understand their consequences when signing the
contract. In these situations, the Court must look for an interpretation
that is in accordance with the parties’ intention at the time the
contract was signed. Furthermore, if there is an interpretation that would
produce a result that the parties would not have reasonably expected at
the time they entered into the contract, then that interpretation should
be rejected.
After 20 years of making sweet music it will be interesting to see how
smoothly this divorce will
play out.