Paulina Porizkova revealed that she regrets not having signed a prenuptial agreement with her late husband Ric Ocasek, who cut her out of her will, saying she had to rely on friends to buy groceries after he died.
The 55-year-old model opened up about her financial mistakes during a two-part conversation with Paula Polito, vice president of UBS Global Wealth Management, as part of her paid partnership with the bank.
When asked if she regretted not having signed a prenuptial agreement when she married in her early 20s, Paulina laughed manically and made a face, saying, ‘Uh, yes.’
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Cândido: Paulina Porizkova, 55, talked about her financial mistakes during a two-party conversation with UBS as part of her paid partnership with the bank
Real: the model told Paula Polito, vice president of UBS Global Wealth Management, who regrets not having signed a prenuptial agreement when she married her late husband Ric Ocasek in 1989
‘Now, if I had a daughter, any of my godchildren or granddaughters, or any of the young women I know … if there’s one good thing I could do for them, is let them hear my story of how the romance eclipsed any financial thinking and what a bad idea, I mean – she added.
Paulina explained that her family never talked about money when she was growing up because they really had no money. She started modeling when she was 15, and her agency made her hire a business manager to look after her finances.
She was just 19 years old when she met her late husband on the set of the 1984 music video for the hit ‘Drive’. He was considerably older and she felt that he was wiser because of his age.
‘I had that kind of idea that he knew everything about the world and his word was the word of God, and I should just listen to what he said because, obviously, he had the wisdom to live that I didn’t have,’ she said. – And he always remembered that, that he knows more because he is older.
Paulina was earning about $ 6 million a year at the time, but she was never considered a breadwinner.
Memories: the supermodel met her late husband on the set of the music video for the hit ‘Drive’ by The Cars in 1984 (pictured) when she was only 19 years old
Honest: Paulina (pictured with Ric in 1990) said that Ric thought that a prenuptial agreement was a “bad omen” and “the romance eclipsed any financial thinking” on his part
Naive: She felt it would be “unromantic” to talk about finance in some way, saying that she thought it put the relationship “in a kind of calculated romance, rather than just love and passion.
‘From the beginning, it always seemed that it didn’t matter how much money I made. It was “hobby” money and his money was “real” money, ‘she recalled.
She felt it would be ‘unromantic’ to talk about finance in any way, saying that she thought it put their relationship ‘in a sort of calculated romance, rather than just love and passion’.
Paulina and Ric were married five years after they met, when she was 24 and he 45.
She said that, before they were married, Ric said that he thought signing a prenuptial agreement was a ‘bad omen’ and wanted to say that they thought their marriage would not last.
“I was stupid,” she said with a laugh. “It was incredibly naive of me.”
Family: Their finances were mixed over the course of their 28-year marriage, and they had two children together, Jonathan, 27, and Oliver, 22 (photo in 2016)
Problem: Paulina said she still had access to money after they announced their separation in 2018, but everything changed when Ric died at her Manhattan home in 2019
Loss: Paulina learned that he cut her from her will, claiming she had ‘abandoned’ him, leaving her with no money to live
Their finances were mixed during the 28-year marriage, and they had two children together – Jonathan, 27, and Oliver, 22. She noted that she still had access to money after they announced their separation in 2018.
However, everything changed when Ric died at his Manhattan home in September 2019 at the age of 75. She learned that he excluded her from her will, claiming that she had “abandoned” him, leaving her with no money to live.
“I have two foreclosed homes and a pension, but I can’t afford to pay for anything,” she said of her financial difficulties the year after his death. ‘So, obviously, things had to be sold, but until they were sold, I had nothing to live for. I literally spent a year asking my friends to buy us groceries. It was not a good position to be in. ‘
In September, Paulina sold the Gramercy Park home, where they lived for more than 30 years, for $ 10 million. She still has her home in upstate New York and recently moved into a rented apartment in Manhattan.
More than a year later, Paulina said she is still unsure whether he did this to her intentionally or was concerned about her health and was not paying attention when someone handed her the paper to sign.
Terrible: Sports Illustrated’s cover star admitted that friends had to buy her groceries after he died, saying her story is a ‘perfect example of a cautionary tale’
Change of opinion: “The most romantic and best way to start a wedding is to sit down and talk about your finances,” she said in a later conversation.
Moving on: Paulina sold the house where she lived with her late husband for three decades for $ 10 million in September
‘This is my seesaw between pain and anger.’ she said. ‘And you know what? I will never have an answer to that. This is something I will never know and I have to come to terms with it. That’s what I’m doing now, forgiving him.
Paulina, as Ric’s widow, may be entitled, under New York law, to an “elective part” of his property because they were not legally divorced when he died.
Ric specifically addressed the rule in his will, declaring: ‘Even if I die before our divorce is finalized … Paulina is not entitled to any elective part … because she abandoned me.’
However, unless it is proven in court that she abandoned him, she will likely be entitled to a third of the musician’s actions, which are listed as $ 5 million in ‘copyright’, $ 100,000 in ‘tangible personal property’ and $ 15,000 in cash.
Paulina explained that although she was angry at her late husband, she takes full responsibility for her financial problems.
Nightmare: The model also has a home in upstate New York that she still owns. She noticed that Ric left with his two mortgages, but with no money to pay them.
New life: Paulina moved into an apartment she is renting in New York City
Racy: Paulina recently shared a nude picture of her that was taken in her new apartment
“What happened to me seemed so easily preventable,” she said. ‘And it wasn’t based on misfortune, it was based on my own stupidity. Not that I had a bad husband. Not that things conspired against me, literally, I have no one to blame for that, except myself. ‘
Paulina emphasized that she is a ‘perfect example of a cautionary tale’ and in a later conversation, she said that she completely changed her mind about financial conversations not being romantic.
“The most romantic and best way to start a wedding is to sit down and talk about your finances,” she said. ‘Because it means that you really care and respect what the other person thinks, and you are not discounting their value.’
However, she admitted that her new financial worth had affected her love life in a small but remarkable way.
‘Men my age, they are still a little disconcerted when I pick up the check.’ she said. – If I decide to pay the bill, I can say that I just castrated them. It’s not super sexy, I think. ‘