Congrats, Juday-Ryan, on nice wedding, but why no pre-nup?

We have the greatest prenuptial agreement in the world. It’s called love. — Gene Perret

The sum which two married people owe to one another defies calculation. It is an infinite debt, which can only be discharged through eternity. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. — Mignon McLaughlin

MANILA, Philippines – Thanks to Regal Films founder “Mother” Lily Y. Monteverde and actor Ryan Agoncillo’s talent manager Noel Ferrer, this writer was able to interview actress Judy Ann Santos one week before their surprise April 28 wedding in San Juan, Batangas. She’s starring in Regal’s new romantic comedy OMG (Oh, My Girl!). One of the highlights of our late-night interview was when Juday revealed that since she and Ryan are so in love with each other and there’s trust, a prenuptial agreement was unnecessary. They didn’t even discuss it, she added.

That interview on no pre-nup and the story on Juday-Ryan’s post-wedding life are the cover stories of the current May issue of S magazine which I edit. Why did I ask Juday about a prenuptial agreement? I recall Philippine STAR entertainment columnist and TV talk show host Boy Abunda asking about the case of Juday’s wedding matron of honor Sharon Cuneta and her marriage to now Senator Kiko Pangilinan: “He (Kiko) confides it was his idea to have a prenuptial arrangement before their wedding. ‘What am I a lawyer for?’ he asks. He says if Sharon were his client, he would have advised her to get a pre-nup. He said this with the calm and radiance of the most beautiful sunrise in Boracay.”

When Juday’s talent manager Alfie Lorenzo read the magazine cover story on “no pre-nup,” he laughed and exclaimed on TV to ABS-CBN 2 correspondent Mario Dumawal four days before their wedding date and at a luncheon I hosted at actor Cesar Montano’s Bellissimo resto in Quezon City: “Why should they have any prenuptial agreement? Juday has no millions and millions in assets to protect.”

I admire and respect the multi-awarded actress Judy Ann Santos and her husband Ryan for their romantic, quiet and classy wedding away from the limelight, including their preference for no prenuptial agreement, but it is just my personal opinion that it is wise and just fair for celebrities and the rich to protect themselves with such a legal document. It’s not about lack of love or trust, but sometimes even the most “in love” couples end up due to simply irreconcilable differences and money can poison breakups if there are no well-planned pre-nups.

Look at some of our society’s smartest women like UP cum laude graduate Senator Loren Legarda, the very well-read Megastar Sharon Cuneta Pangilinan and Batangas Governor Vilma Santos Recto — it is definitely not their fault that they had to separate from their husbands due to more than just irreconcilable differences, so why not have protection with a pre-nup? Even UP cum laude alumna Senator Pia Cayetano is separated from her husband after two kids.

In the case of Loren, not many people realize that beyond the public image of the driven, workaholic, successful and smart legislator, she has suffered personal anguish many times due to two problematic ex-husbands. Even the wife of ex-Speaker Joe de Venecia, Jr. — Gina Vera-Perez de Venecia — had an earlier failed marriage.

In 2005, when the media reported that Kris had already decided to marry her then-boyfriend from an ordinary family in Escalante, Negros Occidental, James Yap, she denied rumors that he had signed a prenuptial agreement. Kris said: “What James signed was only all about him and Joshua,” referring to her son by actor Philip Salvador.

What is a pre-nup? It is a legal contract signed by two people before marriage or civil union, and it usually contains detailed provisions for clear separation and division of property and spousal support in the event of future divorce or break-up of the marriage. For a richer bride or groom, she or he can protect her pre-marriage wealth from joining the conjugal property that legally could then be divided in half in the event of a breakup.

Here are some famous cases of very costly celebrity marriage breakups:

• Mel Gibson and Robyn Moore. After 28 years of marriage, they just divorced last month and there seems to have been no pre-nup agreement, so there have been many reports anticipating that his wife might end up receiving half of his US$1 billion wealth, or US$500 million! The settlement of this money question might take a few more months. Following the case of actor Harrison Ford’s wife receiving future earnings from films done during their marriage, Robyn stands to continuously receive more money in the future.

• Michael Jordan and Juanita Vanoy. Their 2006 divorce awarded her US$168 million, making it so far the biggest celebrity divorce settlement in history on public record.

• Neil Diamond and Marcia Murphey. Their 1995 divorce ended 25 years of marriage and awarded Murphey US$150 million, which at that time was the fourth costliest divorce ever.

• Steven Spielberg and Amy Irving. After contesting her prenuptial agreement, Irving eventually got US$100 million from ex-husband Spielberg after four years of marriage.

• Harrison Ford and Melissa Mathison. Screenwriter Mathison not only got US$85 million after 17 years of marriage, she is even entitled to any future earnings from her ex-husband’s movies made during their marriage!

• Kevin Costner and Cindy Silva. Their 1994 divorce ended 16 years of divorce, with restaurateur Silva receiving US$85 million.

• Madonna and Guy Ritchie. On December 15, 2008, it was announced by Madonna’s spokeswoman that the singer had agreed to a divorce settlement with Ritchie granting him between £50 million and £60 million, a figure that includes the value of the couple’s country house in England. They were married for only eight years.

Guy Ritchie Paul McCartney and Heather Mills. Their 2006 divorce after only four years of marriage ended up giving Mills in 2008 a settlement worth £24.3 million British pounds (US$38.5 million).

Congrats to Juday and Ryan for your beautiful wedding. I hope both of you will enjoy marital bliss, uphold traditional family values and be positive role models to the youth about the importance, inviolability and sanctity of marriage.

* * *

By the way, thanks to UP history doctorate student Rod Vincent Yabes for e-mailing that he’s gifting this writer two biography books on Mao Zedong and Mencius, one of which is authored by my favorite historian Dr. Jonathan Spence of Yale University. We should all study history: it is fun, enlightening and liberating too.

* * *

Thanks for your many letters, all will be answered. Write willsoonflourish@gmail.com or add me in Facebook to send your message.