FameFlynet Pictures.com Did Tom and Katie have a prenup? Will Tom take care of Katie after their divorce or could that prenup leave her high and dry?
—Sally, via the inbox
Believe you me, gurl, these two had a prenup, and you can bet that the document makes for epic entertainment.
As for what exactly the document says, well, put it this way: Katie Holmes wasn't poor when she married Tom Cruise, and she'll likely be worth a whole lot more as a divorcée...
First the basics.
According to our own crack E! News team, yes, the divorcing couple has a prenup. We hear that the contract calls for payouts to Katie in the event of a divorce, with specific amounts depending on how long they were married. We've also been told that a certain dollar figure may kick in after five years of marriage and another after 10.
Division of property and child custody are also discussed in the prenup, we hear, but the exact details are subject to negotiation.
What does that all mean? Well, the couple has been married for just over five years. Ergo, Tom likely owes Katie some cash. Among the rich, that arrangement is much more common than you may think.
"The way we often do prenuptial agreements is with incremental payments for every year or five years," says Lois Liberman, partner in the matrimonial practice of the law firm Blank Rome LLP.
"To protect yourself from a gold digger, you may stipulate that a spouse gets nothing after just a year of marriage, or just maybe an allowance for relocation. But for a longer marriage, the payouts may be $100,000 a year for one to five years, and then $150,000 a year for five to 10."
Of course, those kinds of numbers are for a typical rich person, not a bajillionaire like Cruise, who, according to Forbes, made a staggering $75 million in the past year alone. Over the past five years, the actor has raked in an estimated $200 million in earnings.
Katie, meanwhile, brought in less than $5 million in the past year, Forbes believes. But still: A mere half-million-dollar buyout for Katie? From a guy who made $200 million in a five-year span? Not likely, honey.
"She probably is getting closer to $1 million per year of marriage," Liberman speculates. "Also, there might be some clause which provides some amount to purchase a home for her and Suri. It could be purchased in trust for Suri (so it is really Suri's home), but I would bet that there is some type of home allowance in there."
And let's not forget the amount that Tom is likely to pay in child support.
"For at least another 12 years, Katie will probably be able to live a lifestyle that she otherwise wouldn't be able to live," says Fred Silberberg of Silberberg & Ross, LLP.
Conclusion: Weep not for Katie. She's going to be just fine.
—Additional reporting by Ken Baker and Baker Machado