A prenuptial agreement also referred to as a “prenup,” is a private contract made between two people who are engaged to be married but have not yet been wed.
Depending on the conditions, the contract is often used to specify how assets, property, income, and a few other specific concerns should be distributed in the event of a divorce or legal separation.
A prenuptial agreement can help a couple prepare for what might happen to any current or future children of either partner.
Benefits of a Detailed Prenuptial Agreement
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If you want to know about a prenuptial agreement in detail and how to get one, click here. But let us give you a quick overview in this article as well.
When you are about to remarry, it is crucial to have a thorough prenuptial agreement for the sake of your family. Instead of using predefined forms or documents, you should collaborate with James Monaghan Esq. lawyer on this document.
You have all the right to mention what a prenup covers for you and your current or future children. The agreement could be declared void if there are any discrepancies or unclear clauses, putting your family at risk of protracted legal disputes.
A proper prenuptial agreement assures that your children will be taken care of in the event of your passing, safeguards the assets that both sides are contributing to the marriage, and informs your spouse or partner exactly what to anticipate if your marriage ends.
Furthermore, one of the major things such an agreement mentions is whether you want to be co-parents in case you get divorced and any other factors you may think would be beneficial for your child.
Prenuptial Agreement Ensures that Your Assets are Passed on to Your Children
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You might question whether this is really essential. When you are happily engaged, you will feel confident about your partner. You wouldn’t doubt that they can defy your wishes or swindle assets or money from your children.
Regardless of how convinced you are, it is always best to be sure. Even the most level-headed individual can act selfishly or cruelly when they have access to large sums of money. The last thing your kids need after your divorce or death is a legal fight with their stepparent.
In addition to describing what would happen to your assets in the event of a divorce, your prenuptial agreement needs to specify what should happen to your assets in the event of your death.
You might want to divide your assets between your spouse and children or allocate them in varying percentages. Clearly state exactly what goes to your current spouse and what will go to your children.
This is essential if you have a family firm as issues regarding a company can hamper its reputation and lead to loss of profit or even bankruptcy.
Can You Get an Estate Plan Instead of a Prenup?
When making future plans, you might also create an estate plan specifying how assets will be given to your heirs after your death and may include a will or a trust. In addition to your estate plan is a prenuptial agreement that concerns the inheritance rights of your children.
However, if you get remarried, you might want to change your estate plan to include your new partner, any children they may have, and any children you might have together.
You and your future spouse can create a new estate plan that follows these rights and the terms of the prenuptial agreement by deciding to preserve the inheritance of your kids from a prior relationship.
Yours will solely address what happens after your passing. If the couple gets divorced, one spouse may be given assets that the other spouse had planned to leave to their children in the future.
An estate plan cannot replace a prenup, but it can solidify it. These two documents can work together to protect your children and assets. If your marital assets aren’t documented and aren’t kept separate, it may be difficult to determine that.
What Are the Things You Can’t Add to Your Prenup?
Knowing what cannot be included in a prenuptial agreement is crucial since it will affect any children from previous marriages. A prenup cannot contain provisions relating to support, custody, or visitation rights for the child.
Instead, these types of issues must be resolved by a family court judge in the court where the support or custody order was issued, in the best interests of the children.
Prenuptial agreement drafting can be quite difficult. The initial provisions of the contract may be written by the couple themselves, however, each state has its own prenuptial agreement rules.
Before a prenuptial agreement is deemed legitimate in some states, certain conditions must be satisfied, and many other states demand that an attorney evaluate the prenuptial agreement before it can be signed.
After filing for divorce, the last thing you want to deal with is a dispute about the validity of the prenuptial agreement. This can take a while and increase the stress of a divorce proceeding, for example.
How Can a Lawyer Help?
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A prenuptial agreement can safeguard some assets, such as money and property, that belong to children from a previous marriage, but it cannot cover all of their rights.
Just as a lawyer can help you with a divorce, they can help you take all the legal decisions before marriage. A lawyer can help you decide everything you can include in your prenup.
You can determine what clauses to put in your prenuptial settlement by consulting with an expert family lawyer, who can also ensure that the document complies with all applicable state laws.
When signing a prenuptial agreement, couples also seriously need to consider the possibility that disagreements might happen that lead to a divorce. A lawyer can advise you on your legal options, and fight for your interests.
Conclusion
Whether you are getting married for the first time or getting remarried, you should consider a prenuptial agreement. To safeguard your rights and the security of your current and future children, get in touch with a lawyer.
To be safe, each party in the marriage should retain a different lawyer to draft and examine the prenuptial agreement. This will make it easier to guarantee that both partners’ interests are secured and that the finalized prenuptial agreement is reasonable.
