Keith Urban & Nicole Kidman: Sobriety Clause in Prenuptial Agreement

Agreements in family law matters can give those that are privy to them a significant amount of insight into the dynamics of the relationship. Examples of these types of agreements can include separation and marital settlement property agreements, as well as pre and post nuptial agreements. Often these agreements are negotiated and finalized in private. However, the world of celebrity divorces sometimes gives the rest of us a look behind the curtain of these situations and can tell us a lot about the people that enter into them, especially pre-nuptial agreements. The latest example of this comes to us from the entertainment worlds of country music and movies: the divorce of singer Keith Urban and actress Nicole Kidman.

Keith Urban is an Australian-American country music performer who has won four Grammys and 15 Academy of Country Music Awards. Nicole Kidman is an Australian-American actress and producer. The couple was married on 25 June 2006 at Cardinal Cerretti Memorial Chapel on the grounds of St Patrick’s Estate, Manly, in Sydney. They have 2 daughters.

Various news outlets are reporting that Keith and Nicole negotiated an extensive and detailed pre-nuptial agreement before getting married. Interestingly, it appears that one of the clauses of the pre-nuptial agreement involved a monetary reward for Keith if he was to maintain his sobriety. Per sources, Keith was to abstain from alcohol, and other drugs, including cocaine and would earn $600,000 per year for doing so. Considering Keith has reportedly been sober since 2006, he could be in line to receive more than $11 million as a result of the alleged prenuptial agreement clause.

Clauses that reward or penalize certain behaviors are often upheld and enforceable unless the terms are so exaggerated or unreasonable that a Court would find them unconscionable. In the world of celebrity pre-nuptial agreements, a factor that can often cut against the finding of unconscionable is that the parties to these agreements are often well-off and can afford some of the best attorneys money can buy. Well, if you can afford the best attorneys money can buy, the Courts who are asked to interpret and/or enforce these agreements can reasonably infer that the parties knew exactly what they were bargaining for and were well-advised as to the potential consequences (good or bad) of their actions. In such circumstances, a Court is going to be less likely to set aside a provision of the pre-nuptial agreement because the Court is going to think that this is exactly the bargain that the two parties wanted when they entered into the agreement. It is unlikely that there is going to be any claim of confusion or misunderstanding or “that’s not what my lawyer told me”.

So, if the rumors are true, it appears that Keith Urban’s sobriety is going to pay off in more ways than one. Not only is he likely healthier and happier than he would have been had he continued to drink and use drugs, but now he may soon become $11 million dollars richer!