Golden Fleece

All the following couples:

1. Sylvester Stallone and Brigette Neilsen [1]
2. Joan Collins and Peter Holm [2]
3. Martina Navratilova and Judy Nelson [3]
4. Paul McCartney and Heather Mills [4]

have four things in common:

1. All involved couples that were on the opposite sides of the wealth scale
2. All collapsed within two years (except the Judy and Martina relationship which seems to be a little complicated possibly because it was an SGR)
3. All resulted in large amounts of wealth [in the form of 'Compensation'] being transferred from the wealthier person to the poorer spouse
4. Not one of them had a legally cast-iron prenuptial agreement in place that:
a. Limited the amount of compensation (if any) in the event of a marital breakdown (eg [8])
b. Banned the poorer spouse from 'kiss and tell' ie selling their story to the media for large sums of money (surprising as it may seem, even wealthy people like keeping their private/personal lives PRIVATE)

The 'Compensation' factor I find particularly puzzling. If either:

1. There were children involved whose needs the poorer spouse agreed to honour
2. The poorer spouse had to sacrifice his/her career before entering a marital relationship with the wealthier side

then I can understand the need for some form of compensation to be paid. However none of the couples involved qualify for either of these scenarios so therefore...

If I were being suspicious, I would propose that the poorer person:

1. Identified a suitable victim based on such characteristics eg loneliness, wealth etc etc
2. Produced a complete plan of entrapment to trap the victim
3. Married the victim with a temporary (or Mut'ah) marriage in mind
4. Complained of 'physical harm' etc after a couple of years [5]
5. Fleeced the wealthier victim for maximum finance compensation (in Heather's case this seems to be running into $100M+) [6, 7]

In a time when the Church of England bemoans that marriage has now become 'an ideal' rather than the norm, I would it particularly disgraceful if my suspicions proved correct.

References:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigitte_Nielsen
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Holm
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Nelson
4. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1776957,00.html
5. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1776957,00.html
6. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,200-2342183,00.html
7. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/sep/23/law.world
8. http://www.forbes.com/2007/04/11/celebrity-women-alimony-biz-cx_lg_0412womenpay.html