Maryland fans of the hit television show “Big Bang Theory” are familiar with the work of Kaley Cuoco. The actress plays Penny, the airhead girl next door who falls in love with her nerdy neighbor. Cuoco may play dumb on screen, but in real life she has shown herself to be a savvy financial planner. Due to a rock solid prenuptial agreement, Cuoco is emerging from her recent divorce with the vast majority of her sizable fortune intact, and will not pay spousal support to her former husband.
Cuoco married tennis player Ryan Sweeting after a brief courtship. The marriage lasted just two years, and when the divorce papers were filed, Sweeting asked for spousal support. While a celebrity in the tennis world, Sweeting’s net worth is paltry in comparison to the estimated $45 million that Cuoco is worth. Shortly after tying the knot, Cuoco signed a contract that will pay her $1 million per episode for her work on “Big Bang Theory.”
In the divorce agreement, Cuoco will pay her former husband $165,000 in a lump sum. She will also cover nearly $200,000 of Sweeting’s personal training bills, as well as approximately $65,000 in legal costs associated with the divorce and the drafting of the couple’s prenup. However, she will retain both of the family homes, and will not have to pay Sweeting any form of spousal support.
The fact that Cuoco is able to maintain most of her assets lies in her decision to create a well-drafted prenuptial agreement. While the details of that agreement have not been made public, it can be assumed that spousal support was eliminated as a possibility from the start of the marriage. While many Maryland readers have nowhere near the level of assets that Cuoco has earned, the desire to protect as much of one’s personal wealth as possible is a sentiment with which virtually anyone can sympathize.
Source: hollywoodtake.com, “Kaley Cuoco’s Net Worth Split In Divorce Settlement? Ryan Sweeting Prenup Protected ‘Big Bang Theory’ Star’s Fortune (PHOTOS)“, Melissa Siegel, May 10, 2016
