Kim and Kanye divorce: How fuzzy prenup and rapper's mental health can trigger very messy child custody battle
From announcing his presidential bid for 2020 out of the blue to 'exposing' his wife's past abortion plan and equating his mother-in-law with a dictator and calling her a 'white supremacist', Kanye West's manic episode born out of bipolar disorder seems to strongly hint at the painful end his marriage with Kim Kardashian is going to meet in the near future. If the couple does end up officially splitting, it raises the question of who will get the custody of their four kids. The answer to this, however, is not that clear or simple.
Before Kim and Kanye got married in Paris in May 2014, they signed a prenup, which is not unusual for celebrity couples. Since they were madly in love with each other and both of them were significantly established in their respective careers, the prenup was an easy breezy process. “The entire process for the prenup for Kim and Kanye has been extremely easy, and relatively drama-free. Kanye didn’t even think the couple needed a prenup, and was ready to give Kim carte blanche to all of his financial assets. Yes, he loves Kim that much. There is a huge difference from Kim’s prenup with Kris Humphries… the preparation of their agreement went on for several months. It was long and tedious," sources told Radar Online.
However, while both of them weighed in on who would get what in terms of monetary and other forms of assets, the pair never included any clauses regarding child support in case of a divorce, despite the fact that their eldest daughter North was already born by the time the prenup was signed. According to the outlet, There were no clauses in the agreement concerning custody arrangements of their daughter.
After they were married, Kim and Kanye ended up having three more children, Saint, Chicago and Psalm, two of them through a surrogate. Around 2017, there were talks of Kim and Kanye considering a 'mid-nup' or postnup, which was basically updating their already existing prenuptial agreement. The reason behind it was not marital troubles but Kanye's erratic spending habits and unpredictable investments which had caused him to run into some financial debts.
“He’s making all kinds of deals right now that are very high stakes, and Kim’s nervous. Kim’s worried sick about Kanye’s current situation, which has incurred millions in legal fees already, and is only getting more expensive and complicated. [Kim] wants to protect herself, and for all her faults nobody could blame her," an insider told VH1 at the time. However, even then, no specific details were made public and there was no talk of child custody agreements.
It is not unusual for celebrities to leave out child custody clauses from prenups, as it primarily requires both parties to sit down and have a discussion about the number of children they want to have in the future. There might be increasing payouts to a party based on the increasing number of children. This is often a difficult and sometimes impossible decision to make as the couple might want to opt for more children if they decide to have a bigger family in the future.
Also, according to the Huffington Post, most prenuptial agreements have what is known as a sunset clause, according to which if the two people in question are married for longer than a certain number of years, the terms of the prenup are null and void and it is agreed upon that the laws of the state of residence will prevail. In all fairness, it is not known if the clause is included in Kim and Kanye's prenup. If so, then the custody of their children in the case of a split could only be decided when the parties actually initiate divorce proceedings at some future date.
A potential child custody battle between Kim and Kanye could get complicated due to the latter's vulnerable mental health condition as the court would most likely not award the custody of minors to a mentally unfit parent. It was reported that the Kardashian clan was "shocked" after Kanye told a crowd at his first rally in South Carolina on July 19 that Kim discussed terminating her first pregnancy with North. "I almost killed my daughter… My girlfriend called me screaming, crying," he said. "I’m a rapper. And she said I’m pregnant. She was crying... Even if my wife were to divorce me after this speech, she brought North into this world, when I did not want to. She stood up, and she protected that child. No Plan B. There is Plan A."