People in Massachusetts may have seen that Michael Jordan, arguably the most famous man in all of sports history, recently tied the knot with his girlfriend of several years, a 35-year-old model. Jordan may have learned a thing or two from his previous marriage, which ended in divorce in 2006, as he and his new bride signed a comprehensive prenuptial agreement to control the property division should their marriage end in divorce.

Under the terms of the prenuptial agreement, his wife will get $1 million for each year they remain married, but if they stay married for more than ten years then she will receive the tidy sum of $5 million per year of marriage. In Jordan’s previous divorce he ended up paying his wife approximately $168 million, as well as giving her custody of their three children. She also got to keep the marital home, a sprawling 25,000 square foot estate in Chicago.

For people with tremendous wealth, a prenuptial agreement is a practical necessity. Jordan has a net worth of approximately $650 million, including lucrative stakes in his clothing and shoe line, as well as an ownership interest in the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats franchise. With so much at stake in the event of a divorce, calculating marital assets for the purpose of property division could be a tremendously burdensome and lengthy process.

By having the prenuptial agreement in place, both parties know what to expect and can greatly simplify the divorce settlement process if their marriage comes to an end. But prenuptial agreements aren’t just for the mega-wealthy; they are an effective and practical tool for anyone who wants to take the uncertainty out of divorce.

Source: Fox News, “NBA legend Michael Jordan marries model Yvette Prieto in Florida,” April 28, 2013