Francesca Blackard, Author at Texas Divorce Attorney Blog

In light of the recent rape allegations against Bill Cosby, many are wondering whether Camille Cosby, his wife, will be filing for divorce. Bill Cosby married Camille in 1964; they have been married 50 years. Her and Bill had five children together—both her and the children were the storylines for the famous NBC series “The Cosby Show.” Over time, their marriage has taken some rocky turns, but has surprisingly outlasted the obstacles, at least until now.

You may remember when Bill Cosby admitted he had an extramarital affair with Shawn Berkes after having being blackmailed by an alleged daughter, Autumn Jackson, in 1997. A few years after, in a 2000 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Camille mentioned that the reason she had not gotten divorced was because, “You cleanse yourself of all of that baggage, and you look at each other and determine whether the relationship is worth salvaging, whether you really love each other and want to be together.” Although Bill had been accused of sexual misconduct in the past, it would be a shock if the revival of the rape allegations would not end in divorce. One thing is cheating, another is rape.

The short answer is “yes.” Texas Courts tend to enforce prenuptial agreements and postnuptial agreements. Section 4 of the Texas Family Code states that Courts should enforce marital agreements unless the party trying to invalidate the agreement can prove the following:

The party did not sign the agreement voluntarily; or
The agreement was unconscionable when it was signed and, before signing the agreement, that party: (a) was not provided a fair and reasonable disclosure of the property of financial obligations of the other party; (b) did not voluntarily and expressly waive, in writing, any right to disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the other party beyond the disclosure provided; and (c) did not have, or reasonably could not have had, adequate knowledge of the property or financial obligations of the other party.

Should you stand to inherit family money, you should know that any inheritance is your separate property. So, your spouse is not entitled to any funds you have inherited or were gifted from your family whether before or after marriage. However, a prenup is still encouraged. The reason being is that should you make income off your inheritance, invest into your community estate, or comingle inheritance with your community income or estate, your spouse will be entitled to a portion of the money- especially if you cannot trace your separate property funds.

Francesca Blackard

Camille Cosby- To Divorce or Not to Divorce, that is the Question

Are Prenups Worth It?