Tiger Woods Postnuptial Conclusion

By MaritalMediation Staff on August 24, 2010

Tiger and Elin publicly called it quits today. We thought it would be good to reflect back on some of the numerous legal opinions and speculations of the last year.

But first, here’s the CBS News summary of their final agreement:

Court documents show the two reached a settlement in early July. The terms are unknown, but Elin is expected to get about $100 million, says celebrity website TMZ.com. The two reportedly revised their prenuptial agreement after the scandal broke. Since then, Woods has lost an estimated $18 to $25 million in endorsements and spent two months in sex rehab, Tracy said..

Celebrity divorce attorney Raoul Felder remarked on “The Early Show” Tuesday that Woods was in “Desperateville” when he was making deals with Nordegren’s lawyers. “He probably overpaid,” Felder said. “I would judge (the amound Woods agreed to hand over at) anywhere from $100 million to almost $500 million.”

“Early Show” co-anchor Erica Hill asked, “So $100 million is the low end?” Felder replied, “Because he was desperate. July 4th, he signed a post-nuptial agreement. Then he went into rehab for two months and for an illness that half of America hopes they would have, I guess. And then he tried this ridiculous press conference that didn’t work. And then the golf wasn’t working. So this is the only thing left.”

Felder said it’s “kind of late to resuscitate the patient,” but he added that he would have advised the golf star, “(to) immediately hold a real press conference and kill it.” “He is paying for confidentiality,” Felder said. “That’s something you can never get at any price. … It never works. The cousin tells the brother in law and all of a sudden it’s there again. The only pray you have is you stagger payments. But no woman wants staggered payments. So I think he’s had it. He’s in Desperateville. He the best he did the best thing he could. But it’s not going to work.”

Hill pointed out that Nordegren clearly had the upper hand since their relationship began to unravel just before Thanksgiving last year when Woods crashed his car outside the couple’s Florida home — and women began coming out of the woodwork. Felder agreed, saying, “She had him by the throat. I mean, girls were coming over like a bakery, ‘take a number,’ you know, ‘next girl.’”

But what about the pre-nuptial agreement between the two? Felder says it was likely rewritten, but didn’t work to salvage the marriage. “Pre-nups matter, but this was a very unusual situation,” he said. “He had to stop this hemorrhaging that he was having, and so he killed the pre-nup and made it much more rich. But it didn’t help.”

From a few months back, here’s an opinion from Your Family Matter’s Law Blog:

Tiger’s first offer was to add another $5 million to the $20 million Elin would have received under the original terms of the Prenuptial Agreement. Now, according to news reports, he is offering her another $80 million to remain with him another six years. (Hmm, how much is that a year?) Even $80 million for a man with $600 million is small change to buy Elin’s willingness to give Tiger another chance to recommit to his marriage. So the message is, “You stay with me for another six years, and I will throw a little more money at you if we divorce.” It doesn’t show very much commitment on Tiger’s part…

So when Tiger and Elin got married, they did not make the 100% commitment that most other married people make on their wedding day. They had wedding vows, but if they said “I marry you with this ring, with all that I have and all that I am, for better or worse, for richer or poorer … ” they were not telling the truth. Tiger and his attorneys were manipulating the terms of a very real institution that has been developed throughout the thousands of years that humans have been creating supportive, monogamous relationships. By manipulating it with a Prenuptial Agreement, they were weakening it, not strengthening it. It’s not surprising that Tiger may have found it relatively easy to depart from his marital vows. He had made another (contractual) vow that conflicted with the marital vows.

USLaw Postnup Advice:

This is the perfect time for Elin to negotiate a new prenup with Tiger, while he’s got his tail between his legs. He’s under pressure to save the marriage and she’s got all the leverage…

Have Tiger tear up the prenuptial agreement. Negotiate a new prenup, called a post-nuptial agreement, which is a binding contract entered into while the couple is married.

Get paid for all the time she already served in the marriage. I call this a “Time Served” Clause. A $15 million a year lump sum payment per year of married life completed would be a good start for the years under her belt—years she had to put up with Tiger.

Negotiate a “Misstress Clause”: If Tiger cheats, he writes his wife a multi-million dollar check. Insert a new clause providing a payment to Elin for every year she stays in the marriage going forward.

The EarthTimes:

Golfer Tiger Woods may be able to salvage his marriage if his wife Elin agrees to a multimillion-dollar post-nuptial agreement, according to Boca Raton attorney Doreen Yaffa, a board-certified matrimonial lawyer.

“If media reports are accurate, Tiger and Elin Woods are amending their pre-marriage agreement after the extensive coverage of his ‘transgressions’ – a potentially positive step for both of them,” said Yaffa. “By settling the big financial issues, a post-nup would allow the couple to work on the emotional side of their relationship.”…

“If these men are serious, a post-nuptial agreement can help salvage their marriages,” says Boca Raton attorney Doreen Yaffa, a board-certified matrimonial lawyer. In recent years, Yaffa has helped several couples resolve their marital issues with a “post-nup,” a contract that is similar in many ways to a pre-nuptial agreement signed before marriage. In fact, a pre-nuptial agreement can be turned into a post-nup at any time if both husband and wife agree.

“Post-nups are rare today because most people don’t understand the concept,” says Yaffa, managing partner at Yaffa & Associates. “But if there were more post-nups, I believe the divorce rate would probably be lower.”

Now, when someone comes to her office who wants a divorce, Yaffa says the first question she asks is, “Are you sure your marriage is over?” If the person is not sure, she suggests considering a post-nuptial agreement. “In every case, the spouses who signed a post-nup are still married,” Yaffa says.

FindLaw

As you can tell, Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren have a lot of hurdles that they face. To negotiate a postnuptial agreement, they would have to go through all of Tiger Woods’ assets. Future assets could be more difficult to quantify if there’s a chance Woods’ endorcement deals suffer from the scandal.

Like any couple negotiating a postnuptial agreement, Tiger and Elin must go through an exhaustive list of financial obligations, make sure duress is not forcing wither side to agree, and ensure that any postnupial agreeement is fair to both sides.

Learn more about postnuptial agreements.

Tags: postmarital agreement, postnup, postnuptial agreement