With a capital of 2 billion dinars: what will Taylor Swift’s financial agreement look like?

“It would be absurd if they didn’t have a financial agreement,” Nancy Chemtov, a New York divorce attorney who has represented celebrity clients including Bobby Flay and Mary-Kate Olsen, told Yahoo Finance.

According to Forbes estimates, Swift’s fortune consists of a flow of $800 million from royalties and tours, a music catalog worth about $600 million, and more than $100 million in real estate. Kelsey’s wealth, although impressive, is estimated at about $90 million “just” from his NFL career, endorsements and podcast ventures. Chemtov

Negotiation is easier for the rich

In the absence of a financial agreement, money earned by the couple during the marriage usually becomes joint property, which may be divided in a divorce.

James Sexton, a New York family lawyer whose clients include celebrities and billionaires, believes the couple will likely adopt a straightforward “yours, mine and ours” approach. Under this structure, each spouse retains assets already registered in their name, along with future income from separate careers, while assets purchased jointly will be divided.

That distinction may become increasingly important because Swift’s earning power is expected to continue to climb long after Kelsey’s NFL career ends. Its music catalog, touring business and royalties could generate billions more in the coming decades.

Sexton says wealthy couples may have an easier time negotiating a financial agreement than middle-class people. Affluent couples are usually not concerned about how each spouse will pay basic living expenses after a divorce.

On the other hand, even without disputes over who owns what, dividing up a huge fortune can become extremely expensive.

Celebrity clients came in looking for a simple 50-50 split, Sexton said, only to find that “it takes eight lawyers, six months to figure out what this person has and how to split it in half.”

Property distributions on such a scale often require forensic accountants and valuation experts to quantify everything from future royalty streams to the long-term value of entertainment and intellectual property contracts. “If you have enough money, you can hire experts to say almost anything,” Sexton said.

“Bad Boy” sections

So what does a celebrity financial agreement usually include? A carefully drawn up financial agreement can limit and delimit the amount and issues that are disputed and thus also prevent the high costs of the procedure. Experts told Yahoo Finance that some celebrity prenuptial agreements include “bad boy” clauses that preserve the agreement if one spouse cheats, while others impose multimillion-dollar financial penalties for infidelity.

But even the best financial agreement cannot prevent any fight in court. Randall Kessler, an Atlanta divorce attorney who has represented athletes and celebrities, told Yahoo Finance that divorce court remains “very unpredictable.”