Pre/Post Nuptial Agreements
Prenuptial agreements have gotten a bad reputation, and that’s unfortunate. There are a lot of very good reasons for having one of these contracts in place, as well as for crafting a post nuptial agreement when significant financial changes affect your life after you get married. The top reason that people give for disliking the idea of a prenuptial agreement is that they think it reduces a marriage to a financial arrangement. They also don’t like the idea of even considering that the marriage may come to an end. This philosophy ignores the fact that nobody goes into a marriage anticipating divorce, yet many marriages do, unfortunately, end. By taking the time to thoughtfully and fairly discuss the financial details of a marriage dissolving at the beginning of your union – when you are still in love – you have a much better chance of minimizing hostility and pain and maximizing parity. Beyond the idea of eliminating the adversarial tone that many divorces take on, there are also many legitimate financial reasons for having a prenuptial agreement in place. These include:- To ensure that assets intended for children from a previous marriage are protected
- To maintain a substantial inheritance as separate property
- To protect funds provided by a family member
- To address career changes that significantly change income
- To recover funds withdrawn from a retirement account to eliminate marital debt
- To address the division of marital property purchased with premarital assets such as the proceeds of a sale of business or piece of property