More people are getting married later in life, or for a second or third time. As a result, they have more income, assets, and obligations when they arrive at the altar. So it is no surprise that prenuptial or premarital agreements are becoming a more frequent topic of discussion among to-be-weds.
Regardless of who you are, what you do, who your loved ones are, and what you own, planning for your family and for your assets is a necessary and ongoing activity. Estate planning is a process, not an event.
This is especially true when you and your family situation happens to be a little more complicated than most. In that case, proper planning is absolutely vital. What may be a trend for a new generation of complexities and one that is making headlines anew, believe it or not, is the prenuptial agreement.
The recent murmurs about prenuptial agreements come like most financial news these days, by way of Facebook’s newlywed Mark Zuckerberg. A recent article in CBS MoneyWatch titled, “Why Mark Zuckerberg needs a prenup,” makes the case for his need for a prenuptial agreement.
Zuckerberg and his millions (or whatever his net worth) aside, the prenuptial agreement has its place in an era of mixed families, divorces, remarriages, and all the other increasingly common family structures today. In addition, as pointed out in the original article, people are getting married later, or otherwise remarried, when they already have complicated assets. Divorces aside, complicated assets often necessitate complicated planning.
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Reference: CBS MoneyWatch (May 19, 2012) “Why Mark Zuckerberg needs a prenup”