Depp’s divorce serves as prenuptial lesson for us all

You might have very little in common with movie superstar Johnny Depp. Just because you are not a universally-known face and celebrity, however, does not mean that Depp’s pending divorce has nothing to teach you about family law.

While it is the scandal of the star’s relationship with actress Amber Heard that making headlines, an applicable headline to the life of any man and woman getting married is, “Why you should have a prenuptial agreement.”

Depp specifically had many reasons to have demanded a prenup before marrying Heard. If you share some or all of these criteria with the star, don’t hesitate to talk to a lawyer about creating your own contract before getting married:

• You have accumulated a significant value in assets before the marriage
• You are relatively older in age
• You were married previously
• You have children outside of the upcoming marriage

The above criteria add up to create important reasons to protect your wealth. An aspect of this issue that usually hits home with anyone is the goal of protecting one’s wealth to pass on to their children.

Depp, for example, has children from a prior relationship. A prenuptial agreement could have stipulated the terms of property division to protect the assets he wishes to leave to his children. He could lose more of his assets’ value in this divorce than he would have if he’d taken control through a prenup. The contract could have included agreed-upon alimony terms, as well as specifics about how assets would be divided in the case of divorce.

Prenuptial contracts shouldn’t be seen as the prediction that divorce will happen. They should be viewed as protection in case divorce does happen. Not only can prenups potentially protect your assets and the assets to be handed down to your children, but they can also save you from what could become a more bitter battle over divorce specifics without having made such decisions while cooler heads prevailed.