After just 72 days of marriage, reality TV super star Kim Kardashian, and
her equally famous, basketball pro paramour, Kris Humphries, have decided
to end their whirlwind romance. So much for the trip to Bora Bora and
the 16.5 carat diamond engagement ring.
Kim Kardashian filed for divorce citing “irreconcilable differences,”
listing the date of separation as October 31, 2011. In addition, Kim Kardashian
revealed, according to an article on People.com, that prior to their nuptials,
the couple signed a pre-nuptial agreement and that she will not be making any
spousal support payments to Kris Humphries.
However, what if a pre-nuptial agreement did not exist and the couple’s
property was subject to division and equalization? Moreover, what if the
couple resided in Ontario? Are there any laws currently in place that
could prohibit Kris Humphries from sharing in the Kardashian Empire?
In Ontario, when one speaks of division of property, Part I of the Family
Law Act is looked to and applied using the requisite and necessary definitions
and calculations that must be used in order to arrive at a determination
of the parties’ respective net family properties and subsequent equalization
payments owing. Generally, an equalization payment is one-half the difference
of the parties’ net family properties which is then given to the party
with the lower net family property.
For ease of reference, “net family property” is defined as the
value of all the property that a spouse owns on the date of separation,
after deducting the spouse’s debts and other liabilities, and the
value of property, other than a matrimonial home that the spouse owned
on the date of the marriage, after deducting the spouse’s debts and
other liabilities, other than debts or liabilities related directly to
the acquisition or significant improvement of a matrimonial home, calculated
as of the date of the marriage.
However, there are certain situations where an unequal division of property
is warranted. In order to determine whether or not she qualifies for this,
and if she were residing in Ontario, Kim Kardashian would need to look
to s. 5(6) of the Family Law Act, which gives the court the discretion
to award an amount that is more or less than half the difference between
the net family properties of the spouses if equalizing would be unconscionable
to one of them. How would the court go about making such a determination?
They would need to look at the list of factors found under s. 5(6), and
in this case, they would look more specifically at s.5(6)(e) which states
that they would consider “the fact that the amount a spouse would
otherwise receive is disproportionately large in relation to a period
of cohabitation that is less than five (5) years.”
Since Kim’s and Kris’ marriage lasted only 72 days, it is possible
to assume that if they were Ontario residents, DASH Boutique, Kim Kardashian’s
luxurious home in Calabasas, CA, her designer bags, jewels and shoes,
etc. could be shielded from equalization, much to the detriment of Kris
Humphries who is unemployed and sidelined due to the long-lasting basketball
strike going on right now in the NBA.