The Taming of Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods finally came out of hiding and held a press conference.  Yes it was controlled.  Sure it was on his terms.  In true form, Tiger was robotic like his golf game.  His prepared remarks were all of these things and more.  The "more" is his speech was probably required by his re-negotiated prenup with his wife.  Of course, since Tiger is married, his re-negotiated prenup can't really be called a prenup anymore. It's more like a postnup.  The difference between a prenup and a postnup is a prenup says "I'm not sure I can trust you because we haven't been married yet."  A postnup, on the other hand, says, "Now that we're married I know I can't trust you!"  Big difference, right?  In Tiger's situation, this certainly rings true.  After all, Tiger went from the wholesome golf superstar to the poster boy for men behaving badly.   So what does Tiger's newly re-negotiated prenup actually say?  Your guess is as good as mine, but I promise you it involves more money than the combined GDP of most tropical vacation destinations in the Caribbean!  So what does this have to do with estate planning?  It has to do with asset protection.  Yes, Tiger had a prenup and prenups are wonderful tools.  But they have their problems.  For starters, many state court judges don't like prenups and when push comes to shove, that spells trouble for someone like Tiger.  Another problem is they have their loopholes.  For example, if the rumors are true that Tiger renegotiated his prenup with his wife, it leads one to believe that the prenup didn't provide much protection in the first place.  In addition to a well drafted prenup, someone like Tiger Woods would benefit from asset protection trusts that effectively place the assets therein out of reach from creditors, ex-spouses, lawsuits, etc.  So does this mean that Tiger's wife would get nothing if they divorced?  Of course not.  Alimony, child support and the laws of the state the couple reside in would all play a part in the settlement.  It does mean, however, that a sizable portion of his assets would be beyond the court's reach and the reach of creditors.  Now, Tiger may already have such trusts in place.  We simply don't know because trusts are private.  The sad thing is many of the wealthiest people in the world fail to plan accordingly and wind up broke, especially athletes.  Just remember that no matter who you are, asset protection is important.