When a couple decides to get married, the hope is that the marriage will last a lifetime. Unfortunately, the reality is that many marriages don’t stand the test of time and end in divorce. With this in mind, before getting married, many people turn to prenuptial agreements. A prenuptial agreement is a powerful tool in maintaining a certain amount of financial stability should the marriage be dissolved through a divorce proceeding. If you haven’t given a prenuptial agreement any thought, and you’re preparing to get married, here are a few things to keep in mind.
There are over 10 states in the U.S. that treat assets as communal property in a marriage. This means that, regardless of the names on contracts or names on property titles, the assets are considered to be owned by both spouses. If one of the spouses didn’t contribute to the marital assets in an equitable fashion, they could still end up getting more assets and property than they brought into the marriage. A prenuptial agreement is the only way to divide ownership of assets in these states.
However, even if you live in a state where marital assets aren’t considered jointly owned, a prenuptial agreement also provides more separation when it comes to dividing the assets. For example, without prenuptial agreements, during the divorce proceedings you could potentially lose things like family heirlooms to your spouse, unless these assets and the ownership of these assets are stipulated in a prenuptial agreement.
There are many other benefits to a prenuptial agreement, far too many to mention in this article, which is why it’s so important to schedule a consultation with an attorney before getting married. These consultations can help you and your attorney draft a prenuptial agreement to be signed by both parties should the marriage end in divorce.
Many people feel that contemplating a prenuptial agreement is equivalent to admitting that the marriage isn’t going to last. While everybody has their own opinion on this, from a financial and asset standpoint, prenuptial agreements make a great deal of sense, especially if there are a number of assets being brought into the marriage. If you want to keep some financial stability, even through a difficult time such as divorce, prenuptial agreements make this much easier. A prenuptial agreement is a powerful tool that you may want to consider if you’re thinking about getting married.
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