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Shahs of Sunset's Mercedes "MJ" Javid Has a "Double Standard" Prenup (in Her Favor of Course)
So what does that mean exactly? We asked a lawyer for answers.
Mercedes "MJ" Javid and Tommy Feight, who are expecting their first child together, now have some financials to sort out. The Shahs of Sunset couple, who wed back in April, hammered out a prenup that's very, very fair to MJ. Not so much to Tommy.
Her terms:
- MJ wants 50 percent of Tommy's wealth if his company becomes successful.
- All of his income will be community property during the marriage.
- What's MJ's is MJ's.
"There is no 50/50 in this," she told her lawyer. "My approach is very feminist and very smart... It’s a double standard prenup. I’m really not very negotiable."
Is this even a thing?
Yes, said Christopher Melcher, founding partner of family law firm Walzer Melcher in Los Angeles. He explained to Personal Space:
"We do see that happening and usually how it's phrased is the money the wealthy partner has will never be divided," he said. "But that anything earned during the marriage will be joined and split in some way."
While it sounds appealing on its face (whatever I brought in is mine), Melcher said a double standard prenup is often unfair to the male partner.
"She doesn’t need his stuff, and he can never acquire any estate of his own. She gets to keep 100 percent of her own wealth and gets half of his during the marriage."
He added, "Double standards exist when you have the female partner in the relationship being the wealthy one."
"We do see where there is the absolute expectation that that everything hers is hers and everything he has is theirs. That's a carried over bias from a long time ago."
Often when he negotiates prenups when the female is the wealthy one, "there is a resistance to pay any spousal support or alimony, it’s often unfathomable to the woman."
But when you reverse the gender roles it's "of course she gets half."
"These types of prenups are hard to die even though economically they make no sense," Melcher said. "Gender and economics should not mix."
Tell that to MJ. No negotiating!
