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Intolerable Cruelty (2003). A movie directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Starring George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
The Scam (last updated October 18, 2003) (back to top)
To my surprise, I found this movie a bit slow and not quite as biting and dark as I was expecting and hoping. It only started getting good once Marilyn Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones) manages to trick divorce lawyer Miles Massey (George Clooney) into getting married. Unfortunately, that's also where the writers really deviated from actual California law.
Simply put, Marilyn's scam would not work as well in real life as it does in this movie.
First, Miles Massey probably could get his marriage simply voided rather than having to go through any kind of divorce. Under California Family Code Section 2210(d), Massey can have his marriage voided and declared a nullity because his consent was "obtained by fraud" and he did not cohabit with her after learning "full knowledge of the facts constituting fraud."
Second, even if the marriage is valid, Marilyn doesn't instantly become entitled to half of everything Miles owns, especially if the marriage only lasted one night. According to California family law, courts will allow each married person to keep the property he or she had before getting married, otherwise known as "separate property." Courts will divide equally only the "community estate," which basically is all property that either person in the marriage acquired "during the marriage."
Third, Marilyn could wring some more out of Miles by seeking spousal support in a divorce settlement. But courts only order parties to pay spousal support for a period of time considered "just and reasonable" and probably eventually would require Marilyn to get a real job.
Ultimately, Marilyn's scam would have worked better if Marilyn had put up with the marriage for a while, like she said she was going to do with her so-called Texas oilman. She should have spent Miles' money, made his life difficult, and perhaps pressured him into getting what she wants. That probably would have been a smarter strategy (and made for a more entertaining movie).
Of course, when Marilyn's ex-husband Rex Rexroth dies, the situation gets turned around on Marilyn and in Miles's favor. But even so Miles would not benefit as much as he seems to think. Anything Marilyn gets via her ex-husband's will would count as "separate property" under California Family Code section 770(a)(2) and Miles would not get half of it upon divorce.
Sources: California's legislative code is on-line here. See Family Code Section 2210 for voidable marriages, sections 760, 770 and 2550 for the distribution of community and separate property, and section 4330 for spousal support.
Prenuptial Agreements (last updated October 18, 2003) (back to top)
California divorce lawyer Miles Massey goes on and on about the Massey prenuptial agreement, which he says has never been broken.
Prenuptial agreements are agreements generally about property ownership and how property should be divided in case the marriage does not work out. Prenuptial agreements are generally enforced under California law without too much difficulty. Under California Family Code section 1615, to break a prenuptial agreement and have it rendered unenforceable, you have to show that :
- you did not execute the prenuptial agreement voluntarily, or
- the agreement was "unconscionable" when it was executed. Courts decide what is unconscionable as a matter of law and must find that you were not provided a "fair, reasonable, and full disclosure" of what your spouse owned or owed, that you did not waive a right to fuller disclosure, and that you did not have or could reasonably have had adequate knowledge.
Sources: California's legislative code is on-line here.
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