Weddings are exciting for everyone involved, especially for the couple tying the knot. The excitement and anticipation are both expected and warranted. It’s understandable why not many people get prenuptial and postnuptial agreements. However, a prenuptial agreement may save you a lot of issues later on. Here are the reasons why every couple should get a prenuptial agreement before getting married.
To Provide Financial Security
Prenuptial agreements outline the financial obligations of each party to each other in the event of a divorce. Normally, courts will have the couple go through the process of equitable distribution, which will not always end in the favor of the wealthier spouse. Nobody wants to pay their ex-spouse money, especially if the divorce was hostile. While a family lawyer helps people get through a divorce with the best possible conditions, a prenuptial agreement allows each party to limit or mutually waive spousal maintenance obligations.
To Protect Your Premarital Assets
Remember that a marriage isn’t just a joining of two people. It is also the joining of each party’s assets. It’s only natural for the wealthier spouse to want to secure assets that were acquired prior to the marriage. A prenup outlines clearly how the conjugal assets will be distributed in response to a divorce or death of a spouse.
Without a prenuptial agreement, the surviving spouse has the right to inherit the assets left behind by the other spouse. A prenuptial agreement functions similarly to a last will that serves as a guide on how you want your assets to be distributed upon your death. A prenuptial agreement will even override common state laws.
Be sure that the provisions in your prenup are detailed and thorough. Make sure that your prenup matches the laws of the state you live in. For example, If you live in New Jersey, consult family law attorneys in New Jersey. This is so that your prenup is enforceable even after you are divorced in a different state.
To Protect Yourself Against Conjugal Debt
It’s important to note that a marriage is also a joining of obligations. Nobody wants to drown in a debt accumulated by someone else. This is especially true if the person accumulating debt is no longer your spouse either through death or divorce. A prenuptial agreement prevents this from happening. A prenuptial agreement can contain a stipulation that separates the liabilities and debts of each spouse in the event of death or divorce.
To Allocate Business Shares Should You Get Divorced
Marriages can also affect how the revenue generated by a spouse’s business is owned. Whether the business was acquired before or during the marriage is only secondary. The fact remains that in a marriage, a business is considered a conjugal asset. The spouse who owns the business typically has higher shares of the business.
A prenuptial agreement defines how assets are allocated during a divorce. Without one, the court does it for both parties, which can often mean that the court may rule that your ex-spouse may have higher shares of your business to satisfy the principle of equitable distribution.
The Bottom Line
A prenuptial agreement is probably one of the last things any soon-to-be-married couples would want to discuss. It can easily be misunderstood as setting the marriage up for failure. This is far from the intention that prenuptial agreements were made for. A prenup is a preparation for the day you hope won’t come. If you fail to secure a prenup, you may need to make sure that you get a really good divorce lawyer.
