The divorce of a once happy couple is never a pretty picture. These cancellations of vows can be even more difficult when it isn’t a mutually agreed upon course of action. The pain in a person’s heart is usually what they focus on, but there have been divorces that anyone would agree caused more pain in the wallet than anywhere else. Other high profile divorces have caused enough negative publicity that they may well be considered expensive in the long run. Divorce is always a terrible thing, but in these cases, it may be considered apocalyptic.
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1 Really Mad Max
Mel Gibson’s divorce from Robyn Gibson is often cited as the most expensive celebrity divorce ever. Mel ended up losing over $400 million dollars just in the divorce settlement. He was also hit with a child support order of a quarter of a million dollars. The actor even has to pay half of the future residuals of his films to his ex. The lesson he probably learned? Prenup. According to divorce lawyers in Orlando FL, Katz and Phillips, a prenuptial agreement is a contract signed by couples prior to tying the knot, and it is often meant to protect individuals who are entering into the contract of marriage.
2 Media Mogul’s fall before the fall
Most people know Rupert Murdoch from the recent media scandal that his empire was involved in. His troubles, however, started long before then. Rupert’s marriage to Anne Murdoch ended after thirty-two years. Rupert was remarried only seventeen days after the finalization of his divorce, so it is anyone’s guess what the marital problems stemmed from. The divorce settlement ended up being the most expensive of all time; coming in at $1.7 billion. Murdoch of course still had a fortune which has continued to grow, but a $1.7 million hit to the wallet has to be detrimental to anyone.
3 The Terminated
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s divorce from Maria Shriver put a hefty dent in the actor and former governor’s wallet. When it was discovered several years after an incident of infidelity that Arnold had fathered a child with a member of his family’s domestic staff, it literally became Judgment Day. He would’ve legally had to hand over half of his $500 to $700 million dollar fortune, but it was reported that he offered even more due to his guilt. This means Maria probably got anywhere from $250 to $375 million dollars.
4 A Tiger in the Bedroom
It actually became difficult to avoid news of the Tiger Woods divorce. When it was discovered that Tiger had been cheating on his wife, Elin Nordegren, the ship really hit the sand. Reports of golf club attacks on Tiger’s car filled the news shortly before Gloria Allred decided to represent one of Tiger’s mistresses who hilariously asked for an apology from the man she was assisting in cheating on his wife. After all of the bad publicity, it is estimated that Elin got a settlement of around $100 million. It is often assumed that in the event of fidelity, the innocent party is awarded spousal support, according to the divorce lawyers in Orlando FL, this is rarely the case in modern times as the practice was slowly phased out decades ago.
5 No More Oprah Couch Jumping
Tom Cruise’s marriage to Katie Holmes was probably the most high profile divorce announcement of 2012. While Katie is only set to receive three million dollars for every year she was married to Tom ($15 to $18 million); the true damages may yet remain to be seen. Katie will also likely get their $35 million home and child support payments, but the negative publicity may just be starting. It turns out that Katie filed for divorce behind Tom’s back and has even taken issue over him seeing their children. These tactics may be construed as vindictive, so Katie may face more loss due to publicity than Tom did by the time all is said and done.
High profile divorces garner national media attention and thrust famous people’s private lives directly into the spotlight. Many of these people lose more money in a divorce than ninety-nine percent of Americans will ever make in their lifetime. This may well be the reason these divorces are so intriguing. As long as high profile divorces keep selling magazines and television air time, it isn’t likely that the publicity will ever end.
Any others that should have made the list? Let us know in the comment box below?