Visit any news outlet this week, and you’ll see headlines about federal judge Loretta Preska’s release of names involved with Jeffrey Epstein’s Lolita Express.

But is the hype about the names?

No. We know the names already.

There isn’t any news outlet bringing entirely new information to light. The big names are all the same: Trump, Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, Les Wexner, Jean-Luc Brunel, Alan Dershowitz, and the like. No surprises here. 

The names are not really the titillating muck of the Epstein news this week. After all, the level of sleaze and orchestrated exploitation have been well-known clickbait features for years at this point. 

News stories need clicks. The business of news production has now shifted focused toward one angle: the fascination, the discomfort, the schadenfreude of watching all those seemingly private details of the elites' hidden world and their private personas become the stuff of international gossip and indignant denials. 

Many spectators were surprised by Judge Preska's release of the names associated with Epstein's island, but this release shouldn't have been unexpected.

Dirty laundry regularly airs itself in court.

Why are media-savvy A-listers and politicos so surprised that their "private" connections and "private" business dealings would come to light through court filings? 

This scenario is exactly what they should expect…and guess what?

It’s also what you - the ordinary person who is not a public figure - should expect too.

Consider that the standard-issue divorce of the most ordinary American business owner – an average restaurant owner, for example - can reveal plenty of secrets. JustPrenups’ founder, Chantale Suttle, wrote about a bitter but common divorce in which a litigant reveals the soon-to-be-ex-spouse’s "unreported cash income [from the business][1] or...code violations that put patrons at risk." Why would such details become part of a private figure’s divorce hearing?

Suttle can offer plenty of reasons, such as spite, but divorces may entail legitimate disputes over the value of an asset, such as a business; such disputes are basic to determining who gets what portion of assets and who gets stuck with liabilities. 

Consider the mechanics of how an ordinary divorce can lead to extraordinary destruction for a small, family-owned business: 

The judge will likely require that the restaurant disclose extensive confidential information regarding its finances and operations so that the value of the business and the owner’s true income can be determined....Not only are the disclosure requirements intrusive, they can be incredibly burdensome. The restaurant will likely need its own attorney to satisfy the court’s orders. In the worst possible case, the judge may decide that neither spouse can be trusted to run the restaurant, and appoints a paid receiver to operate it instead.

As a result, the damage to this business – or any business –  is permanently done. The business owner’s reputation may also take a hit.

What may be a private irrelevant detail to you about your divorce may be, for the judge, critical to the disposition of the case and highly relevant to a fair outcome...unless you have already determined the rules of engagement for this type of foreseeable disaster, which is exactly what a divorce is, especially for a business owner.

A prenuptial agreement or postnup can address these concerns, as Suttle noted. For a business owner, the drafting of the prenup or postnup means something different than for someone who is a W-2 employee.

JustPrenups offers different templates that can make a difference in preserving the life of your business. Related clauses involve  confidentiality, social media, non-compete clauses, and NDAs, among plenty of others. At JustPrenups, these issues are covered in mediation so that the couple themselves makes these decisions instead of litigation deciding the outcome.

Such clauses aren't items to be grabbed off a shelf and tossed in your shopping cart, especially if they may conflict with other portions of your contract. A prefab, downloadable template might not be the best option for someone concerned about privacy, not to mention a family business, in a potential divorce.

A service that offers "vending machine" style prenups with some professional assistance still might not be able to draft for your needs and for the standards of your state's laws…without creating ambiguity or conflicts in your agreement.

We keep these questions and our approach proprietary, as our competition doesn't engage in this level of logistical thinking. That is also why JustPrenups offers templates for Florida only, as the templates are kept up to date with state law.

JustPrenups prides itself on asking couples hard questions regarding the public versus private realms. JustPrenups' approach results from Chantale Suttle's years as an attorney in complex divorce litigation and from her time as a family law magistrate. 

If you are interested in learning more about a mediated prenup, complete this form to schedule a free online meeting with us.

Warning: Hello there, your prenup’s content and the process used in its creation are both evaluated by your family law judge if you and your partner divorce. Your judge may consider tossing your prenup if you observed poor practices in your drafting, disclosure, and signature processes because you decided not to use pros at prenups and postnups.

Disclaimer: All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.

  [1] Does your prenup template include language regarding the use of tax returns? Unfortunately, prenup-in-a-can services may leave you unprepared for scenarios that could be harmful. At best, they might give you some basic coverage, assuming that the template and the process of drafting and disclosure *all* comply with the standards of your state law. Do you know what those are? Have you checked for updated statutes or new case law? Sadly, some services emphasize “speedy” results from start to finish, which is exactly what a divorce judge might find suspect about the integrity of your prenup.