A-Rod’s Prenuptial Agreement May Save His Assets – unless his wife can invalidate the prenuptial agreement in Miami
If you watch television, pick up a newspaper, or listen to the radio, you have heard at least one reference to the divorce between Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez and his estranged wife, Cynthia. As their divorce plays out in the public eye, the real battle is taking place in the Miami-Dade Circuit Courts. Cynthia filed her petition for dissolution of marriage from A-Rod in state court in Miami. She is seeking “equitable distribution” of all assets acquired during the marriage. This sum adds up to around half of the $120 million A-Rod earned during the five and a half years of their marriage. And because Florida is an equitable distribution state, she just may be entitled to half of all assets obtained during the marriage. However, there is one glaring problem – Cynthia signed a prenuptial, or antenuptial, agreement one month before their wedding. If valid, Cynthia may only be entitled to the terms of that agreement, which are still unknown.
This case suggests that Cynthia will probably seek to invalidate the prenuptial agreement in order to get as much money as she can – the same way Ivanna Trump did in her divorce against Donald Trump in 1990. To invalidate this agreement, the Miami court will focus on whether the prenuptial agreement was a valid contract. This includes determining if both parties honestly divulged all of their assets that they brought into the marriage, if both parties entered into the agreement with full knowledge of the terms of the prenup and signed it on their own volition, and if the agreement was signed well in advance of the wedding. The reason to penetrate this agreement is simple. When and if invalidated, Florida allows Cynthia entitlement to half of the marital assets via Florida’s equitable distribution statute, which we can assume is much more than the prenuptial agreement will provide.
Although the court in Miami will ultimately decide the outcome of this case, the public will soon be able to make their own conclusions when and if the documents are made public record. Florida is subject to “sunshine laws,” which means that all court documents should be made public absent extraordinary circumstances. This may be another point of contention in the divorce, as well. The thing to take away from this divorce is this: if you decide to enter into a prenuptial agreement, prenuptial agreements can be invalidated unless they are executed properly.
