Before you marry, the subject of prenuptial agreements could come up or not. To know whether you’ll need a prenup, you first need to know the kind of arrangements for which prenups are needed. Consider the following list:
Protecting Your Children of a Previous Marriage
A prenuptial agreement can protect the assets you had prior to your new marriage so that, for example, children from your previous marriage may inherit those assets.
You can also use a prenuptial contract to have your new spouse waive rights as a beneficiary of your retirement plan, if, for example, you want your former spouse and/or children from a previous marriage to be the beneficiaries instead.
Protecting Your Financial Futures
Whether you’re about to remarry, or you’re embarking upon your first marriage, if you or your husband-to-be have a significant accumulation of assets or liabilities, a prenuptial arrangement might be a good idea.
Before your marriage, a prenup can identify funds from certain sources—like business arrangements, partnerships, stocks, or other investments—that belong to you and your husband-to-be, and in what proportions. You can also exclude or include certain assets as marital property to be divided or shared in the event of divorce or death.
Your prenup can also indicate which of your debts are yours and which are your husband’s, and in what amounts and proportions.
Your prenuptial agreement can also determine who will handle your business, investments, and banking matters upon death or in the event of divorce, as a protection against unfair play.
Protecting Against Unfair Treatment
A prenup is also a solid idea if a newly married couple has a large difference in age or financial status between them. The spouse with the majority of the assets will want to protect those assets and control their distribution. The person with fewer assets will want to ensure some level of receipt of the marital property in case the marriage ends due to divorce or death, and wants protection of those assets against claims from previous spouses or other relatives. To avoid either person taking advantage of the other in the event of divorce, a prenup can protect against such squabbles or unfair treatment.
In a prenup, the two of you can define exactly how to distribute any type of assets to each other in the event of a divorce or the other one’s death to ensure fair treatment for one another.
Crafting the Right Prenuptial Agreement for Your Needs
If you think your own bride-to-be situation falls in line with any of the previously described circumstances for a prenup, you made need help drafting a reasonable prenuptial agreement of your own.
The Law Offices of Paul H. Nathan specialize in helping women with family law matters. Contact us today if you have questions about prenuptial agreements or if you are interested in having one drawn up before your wedding. If you know someone who is about to get married, we encourage you to share this information with her.