Kevin Costner’s Wife Christine May Forfeit ‘All Rights’ to a Payout by Challenging Their Prenup
Kevin Costner's estranged wife Christine may have to forfeit her $1.5 million divorce settlement since she is challenging the pair’s prenuptial agreement, according to legal documents filed by the actor's lawyers.
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Marilyn Chinitz, a matrimonial attorney at Blank Rome in New York (she does not represent either of the Costners) tells PEOPLE such clauses in prenuptial agreements are fairly routine. "Attorneys call these provisions 'in torrerem' because it is a clause to instill fear. They are incentivizing someone from challenging the agreement."
Continues Chinitz, "It's basically saying, 'If you're going to challenge the agreement as being invalid and unenforceable, then anything that you may have benefited by, I have a right to claw back.'"
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Chinitz says Christine's legal argument is likely a nonstarter because "the agreement is presumed to be a valid agreement until such time as a court sets it aside."
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Chinitz says Judge Anderle's ruling should speak loudly to Christine's side. "He's signaling to the attorneys, 'I'm enforcing the agreement.'"
The court has set a trial date of November 27 to determine its validity. But even if Christine loses, Chinitz says she may only be on the hook for Kevin's legal fees, not the entire amount of her divorce settlement.
"Courts don't like to be punitive," she explains. "What the court can do instead is require that party to pay the legal fees and any expenses that the other party was caused to incur."
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"Kevin Costner’s Wife Christine May Forfeit ‘All Rights’ to a Payout by Challenging Their Prenup," by Eric Andersson and Linda Marx was published in People Magazine on July 7, 2023.