If you’re planning on getting married, then one thing you may want to look into is a prenuptial agreement. This agreement has many benefits, with the most important being that it can help prevent unfair losses if you later go through a divorce.
If you’re already married, you many want to look into a postnuptial agreement instead. This is primarily the same as a prenuptial agreement, except for you make the arrangements after you’re married.
You can plan for many things in your future by having a pre- or postnuptial agreement in place. However, there are also some things that cannot be done with these agreements. Some things you won’t be able to agree to in a pre- or postnuptial agreement include:
- Plans for any potential or existing children’s futures
- Anything illegal
- Alimony waivers, in most cases
Knowing this, you can start to look into what you can do. For example, you can identify separate property and discuss how you want it to be handled when you divorce. For instance, if you have a home that you purchased in your name but intended to have for your family, you may want to keep that as marital property, even in the case of divorce. Similarly, since you bought it before your marriage, you may want to maintain that as separate property and have your spouse agree not to seek it during divorce.
You can also address current debts, what to do with marital assets or debts during divorce and how you could divide a business. Your attorney can help you learn more about a pre- or postnuptial agreement if you think that it is right for your situation.
