Songwriter and performer Kandi Burruss and her upcoming marriage to a man she met while filming her reality television show has made headlines this week after an extended public discussion about whether the two would sign a prenuptial agreement. Ms. Burruss has had a long career as a singer and songwriter before joining the cast of one of Bravo TV’s Real Housewives shows. She has accumulated significant personal wealth through her work in entertainment, causing her mother to express on-camera concern about her upcoming marriage to a former line producer from the Real Housewives show.
The situation resolved itself recently when Ms. Burruss announced that the two had agreed to sign a prenuptial agreement. A recent episode of the reality show depicted her mother engaging in an argument with her fiancé over finances.
This case might seem sort of removed from the life of the average New York resident, but difficult financial politics between engaged couples and their families can impact people from all different walks of life. Whether it is a question of how much to spend on a wedding and who will pay for it, or issues surrounding signing a prenuptial agreement, finances can often become the center of attention when a couple is setting out to start their life as a newly formed family unit. How to manage money and how to spend it is often a deeply entrenched value handed down through families and finding a way to blend those sensibilities can be difficult for people from different backgrounds. More specifically, if one or both of the parties is going into the marriage with assets that want to retain should the marriage end in divorce. This is one moment when a prenup can be helpful, since it affords the couple time to sit down and have a frank discussion about currently held assets and control of assets and to come to an agreement about how best to handle those assets going forward. This can be a good starting point for further discussions.
Source: Radar Online, “For Love or Money? Kandi Burruss & Fiancé Todd Agree to Sign a Prenup,” Amber James, Dec. 3, 2013.
