Who Wants Pre-Nup

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have finally settled their longstanding divorce dispute, with the final agreement being that $200,000.00 per month is paid by Kanye West in child support for the couple’s 4 children.

The divorce was finalised between the couple by a Judge back in March 2022 after they agreed to end their 8 year marriage but many questions still remained about their finances and child arrangements. Similar to the American system, a divorce alone does not deal with any other aspects of the breakdown of the relationship beyond the legal marriage.

Prior to their famously extravagant wedding it was well publicised that Kim and Kanye had agreed to enter into a Pre-nup, which in America is an enforceable binding contract with the marriage. Here in the UK things are slightly different. Pre-nups work to demonstrate the intentions of the parties at the time of the marriage and are a good way of demonstrating to the court the thoughts and feelings of what should happen, but the court does have the ultimate discretion to move away and make an order based on the needs.

In this case, both Kim and Kanye had sufficient means to meet their individual needs, which meant that the Judge was able to view the pre-nuptial agreement, which kept most of their property separate, and confirm that it does ensure that the needs of both parties are adequately met. The main issues that the court were set to determine mainly involved the arrangements for their four children and child support, also known as child maintenance.

In the UK in June 2022, it was published that 846,300 children are covered by child maintenance payments, which go through the CMS (Child Maintenance Service). The Child Maintenance Service steps in to help parents determine exactly what one parent should pay the other, in the event that the time the children spend more time with the other parent. In the UK the Child Maintenance service has an online calculator  which is a helpful tool to work out what, if any, maintenance is due between parents. The calculator utilises the income of the parents and also the number of overnights that each child spends with each parent, for the purposes of maintenance contact during the day isn’t accounted for, just overnights.

In Kim and Kanye’s case, it has not been published exactly what time the children will be spending with each parent. The news has referenced them agreeing to have joint custody. In the UK the courts have moved away from language such as child custody, in favour of the more appropriate living/contact arrangements. The principles remain the same but the language used by professionals and the courts has changed to help alleviate some of the tension created by disagreements between parents and ensure that both parents view the other as equal. The living arrangements for children does have a direct impact upon the financial arrangements as the courts will look to ensure that the children’s needs are met above all else.

As seen in the news, Kim and Kanye’s children are set to live with them both with Kanye paying Kim $200,000 per month in Child Maintenance. The agreement which has been reached between Kim and Kanye has come as a result of extensive negotiations between their expert family law legal representatives and they have managed to settle their disagreement, avoiding lengthy and expensive court proceedings. Maguire Family Law are divorce and children law experts who are able to guide you through the process and help you to move forward following separation. Our team of specialist lawyers are on hand to help guide you through the difficult process and advise you on all aspects of family law, including divorce, financial remedy, child arrangement, maintenance and more.