A prenuptial agreement is a legal contract made before marriage that outlines financial issues and what would happen in the event of a divorce. It can be useful when one member has large funds or debts, or when a complex family structure is involved. A poorly written agreement may not stand up to state law, so hiring an experienced lawyer is recommended. The opposite is a postnuptial agreement, which is signed after marriage. Both agreements can be canceled if both members agree.
A prenuptial agreement is better known to most as a prenuptial agreement. This is a legal contract made before marriage which sets out certain details about the marriage and what would happen if the marriage were dissolved. Most often, the agreement outlines specific financial issues, but some prenuptial agreements will also regulate marital behaviors such as fidelity or define financial risks should certain behaviors occur.
Opponents of the prenuptial agreement argue that you start a marriage by discussing a divorce. Despite what may be a bit of cold water in the face of romantic love, many lawyers cite many reasons for having a prenuptial agreement, especially since people can enter into marriages from an unequal financial background. When one member of a couple has large funds or huge debts, and the other doesn’t, making sure that an equitable division of assets takes place after marriage can make a lot of sense, and regional law doesn’t always define it in a fair way. The goal of the prenuptial agreement is simply to create a basic fairness in most cases, in the event of a divorce.
One scenario where a prenuptial agreement may be needed is when a marriage will create a complex family structure. If you have children who are expected to inherit a certain amount of land or property, you can ask your fiancé to sign a prenuptial agreement that protects the inheritance. More exotic claims that have little to do with property release sometimes turn into prenuptials of a more complex kind. These could include automatic financial penalties for cheating, setting appearance or weight standards for both members of the couple, agreeing on the total number of children, or specifying exactly how often intercourse is expected.
Usually, more standard matters form the basis of the prenuptial agreement, and lawyers skilled in this area of law are typically best suited to prepare these agreements. A poorly written or “canned” prenuptial agreement taken from the Internet doesn’t always stand up to state law. Each region usually has its own tests for evaluating the merits of a prenuptial agreement in the event of divorce, and there must be evidence that both people have voluntarily agreed to the terms and that no term is considered unreasonable. Hiring an experienced lawyer who is familiar with regional laws helps to ignore any doubts about the legality of the agreement.
The opposite of a prenuptial agreement is the postnuptial agreement. This is a contract signed after a couple has already married. Some find they are helpful in solving any remaining issues about how finances will be handled in the event of a divorce. Strong premarital and postmarital agreements can be canceled, but usually only if both members of the couple agree to terminate the contract. Some people do this after being married for many years.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
