Marrying Taylor Swift might sound like a fairy tale, but according to a top divorce attorney, it wouldn’t automatically come with a jackpot if the marriage ended.
James Sexton, a well-known New York divorce lawyer who frequently weighs in on high-profile breakups, recently addressed a question that’s gone viral online: could a spouse really walk away with half of Taylor Swift’s fortune after a long marriage? His answer was blunt—almost certainly not.
In a widely shared discussion, Sexton explained that someone with Swift’s level of wealth would have layers of legal protection in place long before saying “I do.” From prenuptial agreements to carefully structured ownership of assets, he said her finances would be shielded in ways most people never experience.
A major factor, Sexton noted, is when the money was earned. Assets accumulated before marriage are generally considered separate property, and Swift would enter any marriage with an enormous financial foundation already built. That includes her music catalog, her re-recorded masters, and a global real estate portfolio—assets that would almost certainly remain hers in the event of a divorce.
That doesn’t mean a spouse would leave empty-handed. Sexton pointed out that wealth created during the marriage could be divided, depending on how it’s structured. If massive sums of cash were earned while married and classified as marital property, that portion could potentially be split. In a hypothetical scenario where a billion dollars in cash was accumulated during the marriage, he said, a spouse could indeed be entitled to a share of it.
Sexton also referenced other celebrity divorces to illustrate how complex these cases can be. While taking half of a superstar’s pre-marriage fortune is rare, he acknowledged that some ex-spouses of famous artists—such as Adele and Kelly Clarkson—have reportedly received substantial settlements tied to income generated during their marriages.
Another complication, Sexton explained, is intellectual property. Songwriting royalties and music catalogs aren’t as simple to divide as a bank account, especially when they generate income for decades into the future. Because of that uncertainty, he said Swift’s team would likely keep strict boundaries between personal assets, marital income, and professional property.
For someone at Swift’s level, Sexton believes a prenuptial agreement would be non-negotiable. Without one, he warned, dividing creative assets and future earnings could become a legal nightmare. For artists whose wealth is tied to copyrights and long-term royalties, those protections are essential.
In the end, Sexton’s message was clear: marrying Taylor Swift might come with plenty of attention, but it wouldn’t be a shortcut to half her empire.
