The rollercoaster marriage between LA Lakers hot shot Kobe Bryant and wife
Vanessa now appears to be on the up, at least for now. According to TMZ,
Vanessa plans to hold off on finalizing her divorce from Kobe as they
attempt to work through their problems.
And that’s good news for Kobe, and his bank account.
The couple, who married in 2001 in the early stages of the basketball player’s
budding career, stuck together even after an incident in 2003 in which
Kobe was accused of sexual assault in Colorado. When Vanessa finally filed
divorce papers in December 2011, after 10 years of marriage, the press
and public alike were shocked to learn that the couple never signed a
prenuptial agreement.
While Vanessa surely had other reasons to stay with Kobe after his public
indiscretion, including their two children, it is likely that the lack
of a prenuptial agreement played some role in her decision to stay with
her husband for an additional seven years.
Under California’s divorce law, a marriage that lasts 10 years or longer
is defined as a lengthy marriage, which means that a spouse is allowed
to maintain his or her standard of living after separation. Additionally,
because of the lack of an agreement, Vanessa will be entitled to equalization
of net family property over the course of the marriage. There is no doubt
that this sum is significantly higher now than it was in 2003.
Since the separation, however, Kobe has been pushing to reconcile with
his estranged wife. On Valentine’s Day 2012, the couple was spotted
sharing a kiss, sparking rumours that they would reunite. According to
TMZ, Kobe, has been “aggressively” trying to save the marriage.
Why might this be, you ask? Of course there are the obvious reasons, he
still loves her, they share a life, and they have two young children.
But there’s also that prenuptial agreement, or lack thereof.
According to a 2011
LA Times article, Kobe was the highest-paid player in the 2010 season, earning a
salary of $28.4 million from the NBA alone. That figure doesn’t include
his 2010 contract extension worth $83.5 million or his long list of endorsement
deals, including Turkish Airlines and Mercedes-Benz. In 2010,
Forbes magazine estimated that Kobe earned $53 million before taxes and agent
fees. Without a prenuptial agreement in place, Vanessa is entitled to
half of Kobe’s gains made over the course of the marriage.
On top of the equalization of net family property, the 10 year marriage
may entitle Vanessa to indefinite
spousal support under California divorce law. That is in addition to the child support
owed for the couple’s two daughters, Natalia, age 8, and Giana, age 5.
In Ontario, under the
Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines, spousal support will only be indefinite for marriages which are 20 years
or longer, or the recipient of spousal support’s age and years of
marriage/common law add up to 65. Unfortunately for Kobe, Ontario’s
divorce laws don’t apply in his situation.
It seems, for now anyways, Kobe has staved off the finalization of his
divorce and impending payout as the couple attempts reconciliation. In
Ontario, a court will not proceed until they are satisfied that there
is not a possibility of reconciliation between the spouses (s. 10
Divorce Act).
Additionally, the lawyer acting on behalf of a spouse in a divorce proceeding
has duty to ensure that their clients are aware of avenues for reconciliation.
Section 9 of the
Divorce Act states that legal counsel for both spouses have a duty to expressly draw
the possibility of reconciliation to their client’s attention, unless
it would clearly be inappropriate given the circumstances of the case to do so.
These provisions are in place to ensure that the spouses’ decision
is not impulsive or brash, and that their choice to divorce is both in
their and their children’s best interest. As we know, marriages have
their ups and downs, and the courts want to ensure that divorce is not
a decision entered into lightly.