Most commonly, a prenup is drawn up to protect the spouse with greater separate assets from losing an unfair proportion of that wealth if the marriage should end.
Spring brings about more than just Spring showers and May flowers. Don’t forget about those Spring weddings! With many of these weddings financial discussions will arise that require deep thought and planning, well before the wedding bells ring.
Marriage is not just “tying the knot,” so to speak. No, marriage by its legal nature includes tying together all of your financial resources and interests. Unfortunately, these days marriage also has a dark side too: divorce.
For those couples with important financial resources and interests in the marital mix, they may elect to use a prenuptial agreement as sort of an “insurance” policy in the event the marriage doesn’t work out as planned.
Prenuptial agreements are nowhere as exotic as they are portrayed in the popular imagination. They can be, nevertheless, useful and important documents when produced through a spirit of full disclosure, careful deliberation, and independent legal representation. Otherwise, as pointed out in numerous articles these days, no prenuptial agreement is ironclad unless it is done correctly and, essentially, treated like the contractual understanding that it is.
Recently, Forbes provides some guidance to evaluate the effectiveness of your prenuptial agreement in an article titled “Five Reasons Your Prenup Might Be Invalid.” In addition, The Wall Street Journal offers some specific guidance to get your prenuptial agreement ship-shape in an article titled “Shoring Up Your Prenup.”
Used correctly, a prenuptial agreement, or even a post-nuptial agreement as the case may be, can help a couple frame their financial resources and interests in the context of their life together come what may.
That can provide great peace of mind, especially when blending families and the children from those families. Please visit our website for information on elder law and estate planning issues, and sign up for our free monthly e-newsletter. The archive on our website contains numerous blog posts on these legal areas as well. You can also “friend” us on Facebook (R Christine Brown) to receive periodic posts on elder law issues.
Reference: Forbes (April 2, 2013) “Five Reasons Your Prenup Might Be Invalid”
The Wall Street Journal (March 29, 2013) “Shoring Up Your Prenup”