Tv star Dylan Walsh loses half his fortune in divorce

Tv star Dylan Walsh loses half his fortune in divorce

As many Chicago-area fans know, Actor Dylan Walsh may have played a plastic surgeon on television’s “Nip/Tuck,” but what they do not know is that his bank account has gone under a real-life knife as part of a divorce settlement. Recently, a judge ordered the star to pay half of his fortune from various TV roles to ex-wife Joanna Going, who is also an actor.

Walsh’s case reinforces the message that anyone with large assets should understand the protection a prenuptial agreement can provide before a marriage turns sour and requires property division later.

Walsh and Going married in 2004 and filed for divorce in 2010. The official decree came only recently and cost Walsh half of the royalties he had earned from Nip/Tuck and appearances in other TV shows such as “Law and Order: SVU” and a few movies. In addition, he must pay approximately $4,300 from each episode of his new series “Unforgettable” as child support and an unspecified amount in spousal support until 2015. Walsh earns $93,000 for each new episode of Unforgettable. To even things up, he must make a one-time payment of almost $120,000 to Going.

The couple agreed to joint custody of their 9-year-old daughter. For her part, Going has agreed to pay Dylan half the royalties from her shows such as “CSI” and “Criminal Minds” that she earned during their marriage.

The overall settlement illustrates the potential advantage that signing a prenuptial agreement would have provided Walsh. It may have been possible for the actor to keep a lot of the money that he now must give to Going had the couple arranged and signed a prenuptial agreement.

A prenuptial agreement helps a couple deal with financial consequences if a marriage ends, but can also cover other issues important to the pair. Those in Illinois who do not sign a prenuptial may end up losing hard-earned assets during the property division process.

A prenuptial agreement drawn up with the help of an experienced family law attorney can help protect assets and avoid high legal fees, stress and other elements of a potentially difficult divorce battle.

Source: TMZ, “Dylan Walsh Ordered to Pay Ex-Wife HALF Of ‘Nip/Tuck’ Money,” Dec. 25, 2012