Reality TV met the reality of divorce this week when Kris Jenner, “momager” of the Kardashian clan, and former Olympian Bruce Jenner announced their separation after 22 years of marriage. No one has filed paperwork yet to formalize the split, but speculation is growing as to how the pair will eventually divide their estimated $125 million fortune — especially since the couple never signed a prenuptial agreement.
Who will get what? As Weinberger Divorce & Family Law Group, LLC’s Bari Weinberger explained today in an appearance on PIX 11’s morning news show with Sukanya Krishnan, what may be the most relevant factor for the couple is the state in which they reside.
According to Weinberger, unlike New Jersey, which has equitable distribution rules in place for dividing martial assets, “California is a ‘community property’ state, which means a 50/50 division of the assets that have been acquired from the date of marriage to the marital cut off point…essentially until the time of separation.”
And just what date is this? With money rolling in every day from the Kardashian empire’s many ventures, the date of marital separation may become very important because it could represent a significant number of assets. Rumors have swirled that the pair split up this past spring, but the Jenners have steadfastly denied any marital discord until releasing the statement announcing their separation this past week.
“Separation is not necessarily when they began living in separate homes. In the case of Kris and Bruce, the couple continued to hold themselves out as husband and wife. As recently as June, Kris denied rumors of a divorce and indicated that she was hopeful that they would remain married for another 23 years.”
In other words, if Kris signed a big bucks contract in the past few months, even though she and Bruce were living in separate homes, he could still claim 50 percent based on their public statements and public personas as a married couple.
Still, Weinerger can’t help but wonder why the couple never signed a pre-nup back in 1991 when they wed, especially for Bruce, who entered the marriage already a millionaire many times over. Kardashian was a recently divorced mom of four young children. She was relatively well off, but had nowhere near the assets of Jenner.
“This is not a first marriage for either of them so it’s especially surprising that they never entered into a prenup,” Weinberger told Krishnan.
With so much at stake, and more than a few messy details, doesn’t this have all the makings of reality TV gold? Sure enough, it’s already been reported that the Kardashian show cameras continued rolling today.
As Weinberger concludes, “The moral of this story is that living in the Truman show is just not healthy for one’s marriage.”
We will post the show video as soon as it becomes available!