 When you decide to get married, you typically are faced with a variety of decisions. Decisions have to be made about a lot of things before you end up actually taking your vows. One of the things that you may be asking yourself is whether or not a prenuptial agreement is something you should be thinking about. If you have a child or children from a prior relationship, assets that are very important to you or assets that you want to stay in your family, a prenuptial agreement may be something that you need to think about. Many people think that even asking about a prenuptial agreement means that you aren't fully committed to the marriage. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact that you want to protect certain assets in case of a divorce is smart. Just to put things into perspective, Rosanne Barr fired her attorney in 1990 because he suggested that she should ask Tom Arnold to sign a prenuptial agreement. Four years later, in 1994, their divorce ended up costing her $50 million dollars. Even after paying that $50 million, she still had money. What if she was only making $50,000 and he wanted $15K or $20K? Paul McCartney's four year marriage ended up costing him about $48.6 million. You may be thinking that you don't have that kind of money so a prenuptial isn't necessary for you. Let's examine why a prenuptial agreement may be one of the best things you can do to secure your assets in the event of a divorce. What Do Prenuptial Agreements Do A prenuptial agreement is a contractual agreement written and signed prior to getting married. Prenuptial agreements offer people a way to get around state laws regarding the distribution of property in the event of a divorce or death. Prenuptial agreements can stipulate any number of things. Some of the things that can be included are what happens to any assets should the marriage end in divorce, what happens to assets in the event of a divorce due to infidelity, what happens to assets each party had prior to the marriage in case of a divorce and how assets should be distributed if one partner dies and there are children from a prior relationship that need to be taken care. Many more things can be specified in the agreement depending on the needs of each partner. Prenups are only an issue if the marriage ends. Prenuptial agreements cannot be used during the marriage to stipulate what happens during the marriage. A lot of people think that you should never think about the end of the marriage. The reality is that if your marriage ends and you have never thought about it, you are going to wish you did. Prenups are like seat belts and air bags. You may never be in accident that causes you to need a seat belt or an air bag, however, if you are ever in such an accident and you don't have that seat belt or air bag......Need I say more? Why Would You Need A Prenuptial Agreement Asking why you would need a prenuptial agreement is a valid question. I'm going to give you several reasons why you may need an agreement. If you had a home or property prior to the marriage, you might lose your home in a divorce. A prenuptial agreement can help to protect assets you acquired before the marriage. If you have children that aren't from your new wife or husband, a prenuptial agreement can ensure that any assets you have go directly to them instead of to your spouse. It can also ensure that particular assets you have go to the people you designate instead of your spouse if you get a divorce. Actually, you would retain ownership of the items in a divorce. Without a prenup, it is possible that those assets will go to your ex. If your spouse has debt prior to the marriage, you could end up paying that debt off in the event of a divorce. Also, if your spouse has IRS tax debts, the IRS has been known to come after the other spouse even after a divorce. By having a prenuptial agreement covering such things, you will have a legal leg to stand on to get that money back should the IRS or some other agency come after you. You could end up supporting your spouse even if you were married for a short time if you don't have a prenuptial agreement. “Accustomed to” is a term you will become accustomed to if you don't take precautions. If you have provided a financial upgrade for your spouse and you have no prenuptial agreement, you may be providing that upgrade for them after a divorce. Alimony and lump sum payments can take a significant chunk of your money if you don't protect your assets. If you had a business prior to getting into the marriage, you may lose half of that business when you get divorced if you don't have a prenuptial agreement. Putting together a prenuptial agreement that releases your partners claim to your business should you get a divorce can help to protect what you have built. You can prevent a lot of fighting during a divorce by having a prenuptial agreement that already spells out what will happen to your property. This means that you won't spend time in court arguing over the toaster, the sofa or a house. You cannot imagine how nasty people become during a divorce over the smallest things. You would never have imagined how much your husband or wife cared about those plastic hangers until you get into a divorce proceeding. A prenup that spells out the division of assets prior to a divorce eliminates fights over things like this. Your financial details can be kept private in your divorce proceeding if you have a prenuptial agreement in place. If you don't have an agreement in place, your financial details may become a matter of public record for all to see. Your pension can go bye-bye if you don't have a prenuptial agreement. Let's say that you have worked for 30 years at a job and you have been married for 10 years. How does giving up half of your retirement money sound? That is exactly what can happen if you don't have a prenuptial agreement. If you don't believe me, spend some time investigating divorce cases. You can do a query on Google and read some divorce petitions online. People often ask for their spouses retirement money – even if their spouse is years away from retirement! It isn't rare at all. Would you feel happy to give away half of your pension just because you want a divorce? How does giving away half of your savings sound? If that doesn't sound good to you, a prenuptial agreement can provide protection for you. Without a prenuptial agreement, your savings – even those accumulated prior to the marriage – may be fair game. What mood will the divorce judge be in when you go before him or her? People don't realize how much power a judge has until they are standing before one. Judges are often given wide latitude and discretion as they handle divorce cases. Judges are great and typically they offer fair and impartial judgments. There are, however, times when judges make mistakes. Do you really want to trust your assets to someone that may or may not be in a good mood or someone that may be fed up with hearing cases like yours? Judges are human beings too and they make mistakes just like everyone else. Just think about how many people have been innocently convicted. Courts make mistakes sometimes. Do you want to take the chance that they will make a mistake with your assets?
Divorce is a hard thing to think about when you are about to get married. It can seem unromantic. It can make you feel like you are working against the marriage. It can make you feel like you are looking at the end of the marriage instead of focusing on creating a great marriage. This isn't the case. Health insurance, wills, seat belts, air bags, medical directives and prenuptial agreements are never an issue until you need them. You may never need a prenuptial agreement, however, if you need one and don't have one you may end up paying more than you could have ever imagined. Love isn't all you need to think about when you are about to get married. Be practical and draw up a prenuptial agreement to protect the both of you. Prenuptial agreements can also be modified later on during the marriage as your financial situation changes. Don't make the mistake of thinking that prenuptial agreements are just for rich people. Losing your $250,000 home may mean a lot more to you if you are making $60,000 than it would to someone with millions of dollars. Understand this about prenuptial agreements if you don't understand anything else. Not having a prenuptial agreement is not going to stop you from getting a divorce if that's where your relationship ends up. The difference between having a prenup and not having one is simple. If you don't have a prenuptial agreement, the divorce court will decide what happens to your stuff and, if you do have a prenuptial agreement, you and the person you are with will decide what happens to your stuff. Which method sounds better to you? Here is an example of a prenuptial agreement. If you are looking for a prenuptial agreement particular to your state, click here. Written By Kila Morton
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