NBA Star, Dwyane Wade, Gets Married and His Prenuptial Agreement Reveals Secrets About His Personal Life and Estate Planning Opines UltraTrust.com

Boston, MA (PRWEB) October 06, 2014

Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. tied the knot for the second time with Gabrielle Union as reported by USA Today in late August (5). Union is beautiful and talented actress who is better known for her roles in films such as She's All That, Love and Basketball and Bad Boys II. Union's net worth is estimated to be around $12 million, and her marriage to Wade is also her second attempt at marital bliss.

Wade is a very familiar name to basketball fans around the world. Wade is considered to be one of the best guards in the National Basketball Association (NBA) of the modern era, and he has been on the hardwood courts for most of the 21st century (1). Wade has played for the Miami Heat since he was selected as a top draft pick in 2003, and in that time frame he has helped his team make the NBA Finals a handful of times; these days, Wade sports three NBA Championship rings and a Gold Medal from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (2).

In addition to being a serious future contender for induction in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Wade is known to be a sharp dresser and a man who is proficient at negotiating business deals (3). With his NBA season contracts, performance bonuses and several endorsement deals, Wade's net worth has been estimated by Forbes to be around $100 million (4).

Months before the discreet wedding ceremony took place in Miami with NBA megastar Lebron James in attendance, Union made headlines following her appearance on the Arsenio Hall Show. The lovely actress spoke candidly about her relationship with Wade and confessed that she agreed to walk down the aisle with Wade only if he agreed to execute a prenuptial agreement (5). On her late night talk show appearance, Union made it clear that the premarital contract was her idea and her insistence. She added her own philosophy about marriage being a situation in which both spouses should be able to protect their individual assets and contribute them as the relationship requires them to.

"Sounds like Ms. Union is as smart as she is talented and stunning," states Rocco Beatrice of UltraTrust.com. Mr. Beatrice is the Managing Director of Estate Street Partners, a wealth management and asset protection firm that owns and operates UltraTrust.com. "We are seeing more people who share a philosophy similar to that of Ms. Union, whereupon they believe that whatever they own prior to getting married should remain under their control. This does not mean that they are going to turn into complete tightwads right after the honeymoon; I don't think anyone would like to marry someone under those terms. There is, however, a growing sentiment to make a conscious financial decisions about what you own without having to worry about draconian state laws should the marriage fail."

On the Arsenio Hall show, Union also mentioned that life experience made her think seriously about the need for a prenuptial agreement. As reported by ABC News, the actress and her new husband already know what it's like to get divorced and be subject to paying off former spouses (5). Besides, Union added, she has never seen Wade balance a checkbook in the four years they have lived together.

"Many NBA players are notoriously profligate," explains Mr. Beatrice, "and we have seen many who end up filing for bankruptcy. We don't think this would be the case with Wade, but perhaps his new wife has seen spendthrift behavior among Miami Heat players who really know how to celebrate their hard work on the court. We can definitely understand Union's concerns, but we think she could have done better than a prenup."

Mr. Beatrice expanded on the above: "The problem with prenuptial agreements is that they are cumbersome and expensive instruments to draft and execute, and they tend to perform very poorly in court. Think about it: Union and Wade each had to get a separate attorney and arrange for accounting of their all their assets, properties, investments, and loans. Then they had to find two sets of witnesses each and bring them together so that the prenup could be executed in front of a notary. We could almost see Wade asking his teammate Lebron James to check with his agent about being a witness to a prenup.

"Should Union and Wade ever get divorced, and we hope that never happens, they will have to face the harsh possibility of a Florida judge telling them that their prenup does not hold up in court," continued Mr. Beatrice. "In the decades that prenups have been utilized, the case law compendium across the United States has grown considerably with the remnants of prenups that were invalidated or set aside. It has become too easy to attack prenups, and many divorce attorneys specialize in this regard."

As a way of conclusion, Mr. Beatrice explained: "We would have advised this couple to each get irrevocable trusts instead of creating a premarital contract. Most people think of irrevocable trusts as estate planning instruments, but they can also be used for asset protection, and they do not require the signature or consent of a future spouse. Best of all, they prevent a lot of the headaches caused by non-performing prenups in divorce court. If an individual creates an irrevocable trust and deposits his or her assets therein before getting married, those assets will be forever protected from divorce. Union could have created an irrevocable trust managed by a professional trustee without even telling Wade, and he could have done the same if he wished to do so. In fact, if Wade is not fond of balancing checkbooks as he is fond of driving to the basket and dunking on centers, he would certainly benefit from a professionally managed irrevocable trust."

About Estate Street Partners (UltraTrust.com):
For 30 years, Estate Street Partners has been helping clients protect assets from divorce and frivolous lawsuits while eliminating estate taxes and probate as well as ensuring superior Medicaid asset protection for both parents and children with their Premium UltraTrust® Irrevocable Trust. Call (888) 938-5872 to learn more.

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1. nba.com/playerfile/dwyane_wade9/29/14
2. basketball-reference.com/players/w/wadedw01.html9/29/14
3. businessweek.com/articles/2013-11-14/sportsman-gone-sartorial-dwyane-wade-tries-the-necktie-game
4. forbes.com/sites/aliciajessop/2014/05/15/leading-the-miami-heat-on-the-court-to-a-fourth-consecutive-eastern-conference-finals-appearance-off-of-the-court-dwyane-wade-makes-his-mark-in-the-fantasy-basketball-camp-marketplace/9/29/14
5. abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/gabrielle-union-making-dwyane-wade-sign-prenup/story?id=224801259/29/14

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