Divorce Lawyer Shares 6 Bizarre Prenup Clauses That Resulted In Six-Figure Divorce Payouts
If the love doesn't last, might as well get some cash...
Andrey_Popov | Shutterstock Most of us have a pretty basic understanding of what prenuptial agreements are, especially if we're not rich enough to bother with one. They decide who gets what in the unfortunate event that the marriage dissolves, and protect rich people's riches from being messed with in the process, right? But getting an inside glimpse into these documents often reveals how odd the terms of them can actually be. The kinds of things that make you think, "who would even come up with that?" and perhaps especially, "why are y'all even getting married in the first place?"
Kira Abernathy is the lead attorney at Georgia-based family law firm Your Law Firm, and as a veteran of the divorce game, she's seen it all, including some wild prenups. These clauses aren't necessarily common, but she says they all derive from a common motivation.
“Couples today want to address every possible scenario before they walk down the aisle,” she explained.
That is, of course, impossible (no one can actually know what's going to go down in a relationship, after all), and it seems that it gets people stirring up all kinds of weird potential scenarios they have to try to solve for in their prenups, with often very expensive results.
"What starts as romantic planning can turn into some pretty eye-opening legal territory," Abernathy said. Here are the six most unexpected prenup clauses she said she's seen, and the surprising financial stakes attached to each one.
1. Cheating fines
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Infidelity clauses in prenups are nothing new, but Abernathy said the terms and payouts involved are getting kinda wild. She's seen agreements that not only forfeit alimony rights in the event of cheating, but have monetary penalties per affair, ranging from $50,000 to half a million per dalliance.
What constitutes cheating is remarkably broad, too. "One client had a clause that defined cheating as any romantic contact, including emotional affairs conducted through social media,” Abernathy noted. "The penalty was $100,000 plus loss of the family vacation home.” Yikes.
2. Pet custody that's as detailed as child custody
It used to be that couples fought over the kids. Now they're going 20 rounds in court over Fido and Muffin. Abernathy says pet custody clauses in prenups can be every bit as intricate as child custody ones, complete with detailed visitation schedules and even where the pet spends holidays.
And yes, "pet support" is a thing, with some agreements specifying monthly payments in the thousands. "I've seen a prenup that required the non-custodial spouse to pay $2,500 monthly for their French Bulldog's care, plus an additional $5,000 annual ‘enrichment fund’ for toys and training,” Abernathy said. My, how the other half lives.
3. Social media silence clauses
Thinking of dragging your ex on Instagram or turning your divorce into a lucrative TikTok series? Better check that prenup first, because clauses forbidding any disparaging discussion of the former spouse, their relationship, or the divorce are becoming increasingly common. Abernathy said many of them forbid any mention of the former spouse at all.
And violations of these policies can trigger bonus payments to the offended ex. One prenup Abernathy encountered included a $10,000 penalty for each “humiliating” social media post, with an additional $25,000 surcharge if the post went viral.
4. Weight clauses
Now this is where things just get downright gross. These clauses require spouses to maintain their weight within a certain range, and if someone puts on a couple pounds? There will not just be a divorce, but a financial penalty. Abernathy said she's seen agreements with $1,000 monthly penalties for every 10 pounds over the agreed weight, for example.
These are almost never enforceable, Abernathy said. "But I've seen them used as bargaining chips where one spouse agrees to waive the clause in exchange for other concessions," she explained. Which is honestly even darker…
5. In-Law invasion protections
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This is the one that most spouses would probably kill to have: Some couples are so concerned about meddling in-laws mucking things up that they're nipping it in the bud before going down the aisle, and putting money on the line to make sure mother-in-law stays in her place.
"They're writing boundaries into their prenups," Abernathy said, specifying everything from allowable visit durations to which family members are banned from the house entirely. And when it comes to penalties, Abernathy said she's even seen one couple whose prenup had a "recovery vacation" clause, in which they were entitled to up to $15,000 per incident where an in-law got out of line that the offended spouse could use for a trip afterward. Yes please.
6. Lifestyle requirements
Abernathy noted that prenups are increasingly including rules about things like mandatory date nights, a specific number of yearly vacations, and even the frequency of intimacy — all enforced with huge monetary penalties.
"I've drafted agreements requiring two vacations annually, with $20,000 penalties if the trips don't happen,” Abernathy said. “One couple even specified that the cancelled date nights required a $500 ‘disappointment fee’."
Abernathy said that the actual enforceability of these clauses is tenuous at best, however. "I've learned that these clauses rarely hold up exactly as written in court," she said, though the pet custody and social media clauses surprisingly often do.
The others, however, are still useful "as powerful negotiation tools during divorce proceedings." There's nothing particularly romantic about writing your divorce leverage into a legally enforceable document, but given how unreliable marriage is these days? Well, who can blame them! Might as well secure the bag on the way down the aisle, because you just never know.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
