The Ironclad Detail Teresa Giudice Got In Her Prenup With Her Ex Joe

Joe and Teresa Giudice's marriage lasted from 1999 through 2020. Before the two exchanged vows, they agreed on a prenuptial agreement in an effort to protect their respective finances and assets in the event of divorce. There was one thing in particular that the "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star wanted to be sure was in the legal documents — and that was a "no cheat" clause. On an episode of the Bravo reality show, Teresa revealed that she made one very specific request in her prenup. "I didn't even read it, I just said, 'I want you to put one thing in there. If you ever cheat, the prenup is void,'" she recalled, according to People magazine. Teresa was so adamant about the clause, in fact, that she told her then-soon-to-be husband that she wouldn't sign the paperwork unless it was included. 

As it turns out, the cheating clause never came into play. On March 4, 2014, Teresa and Joe pled guilty to 41 counts of fraud, and both were sentenced to time behind bars. After Joe was released from jail, Teresa knew her marriage was over and filed for divorce. Further details about the former couple's prenup haven't been made public, but their split was amicable and the two are still in communication, mainly due to the fact that they share four daughters. 

When Teresa Giudice got engaged and began planning her wedding, she wasn't thinking about signing a prenuptial agreement. In fact, when Joe Giudice brought it up, she was taken aback — especially due to the timing. "A week before we were getting married, Joe asked me to sign a prenup and I just felt when you love someone, you don't do that," Teresa said on "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," per People. "Being Italian, I have old school parents, and it's an embarrassing thing to call off a wedding," she added.

The former couple finalized their divorce in September 2020. "Joe and Teresa are in an amazing place and are very supportive of one another. They still have love for each other, they just aren't in love with each other," a source told People magazine a the time. A New Jersey area divorce attorney told the outlet that Joe and Teresa were able to iron out all of the fine details of their divorce by way of mediation. At that time, Joe had been deported to Italy and Teresa was living in New Jersey with her girls. In the time since, Joe has relocated to the Bahamas so that it's easier for his daughters to see him — and they are in the same time zone.

While Teresa Giudice signed a prenuptial agreement prior to marrying Joe Giudice, she decided against it when she married Luis Ruelas in August 2022. The decision caused quite a controversy in the Bravoverse and was a hot button topic of conversation at BravoCon in New York in October 2022. During a Q&A at the convention, someone asked Teresa if she and Ruelas ended up signing a prenup. "No," Teresa responded. "True love," she said, apparently giving that as her reason. 

As for what Joe Giudice thinks of Teresa's decision not to have a prenup in place before marrying Ruelas, well, he didn't seem to care much. "My thoughts on Teresa not signing a prenup is that it is her and Lou's business," he told Us Weekly by way of his rep. "I don't have any thoughts or comments on that," he added. As far as what's at stake, Teresa reportedly has a net worth of $11 million, according to The Richest. Meanwhile, Life & Style magazine reports that Ruelas is worth about $2 million.