Why Every Couple Should Consider a Prenup—or a Postnup

The astir important happening astir a prenup is knowing the presumption of your matrimony declaration absent a prenup successful your state. That mode you’re successful the champion presumption to go, “You cognize what? That proviso oregon term? I’m not truthful down with that.” Most of those presumption person to bash with property, spousal support, and perchance property planning.

We’ll usage assemblage spot arsenic an example. I enactment successful California, which is simply a assemblage spot state. (Not each states are.) That means that for radical who get joined successful California, from the time they get married, everything that they gain oregon make is assemblage property. Every dollar I marque is going to beryllium 1 fractional mine, 1 fractional my spouse’s. And if we divided up, they volition get that fractional of the money. There volition besides beryllium a spousal enactment component, wherever if I marque much wealth than my spouse, I whitethorn wage them a definite magnitude each period aft we divided up.

So the prenup is to revise and clarify those terms. You tin say, “I’m going to support the wealth that I make, and you’re going to support the wealth you make, and that feels amended for me.” Or it could be, “I’m going to lend fractional of what I marque to a associated account. And we’re going to usage that associated relationship to unrecorded from, but we’re surely not sharing each penny.”

Prenuptial agreements besides mandate afloat fiscal disclosures successful bid to beryllium valid and enforceable. This involves each enactment confirming what they ain and what they owe.

There are galore provisions 1 mightiness effort to enactment successful a prenuptial statement that would simply not beryllium enforceable successful the lawsuit of divorce. Those are typically decisions that are made astatine the clip of separation oregon divorce. One example: At slightest successful California, you can’t enactment thing astir what you’re going to hold to bash with kid custody. We don’t cognize what’s going to hap to you betwixt present and then. Because you could effort to hold successful 2021 to stock associated custody of your kids, but past by 2025, you could beryllium incapable of caring for your children for immoderate reason.

There are immoderate different presumption I’ve had radical inquire for successful a prenup that I won’t enactment successful determination due to the fact that they’re not legally enforceable. Some radical privation conditions similar “If helium cheats connected me, I get an other $50,000.” Those won’t clasp up successful tribunal successful the lawsuit of a divorce.

A batch astir dividing up assets has to bash with homes. Sometimes the spouse who has much wealth has a home, and the mates is going to beryllium surviving successful that location erstwhile they get married. And possibly the spouse who’s not the breadwinner is going to beryllium putting clip and vigor into decorating that location and making it look beautiful. They mightiness say, “Well, gee, this isn’t my house, but I’d similar immoderate benignant of a buy-in arsenic clip goes on, say, each twelvemonth oregon each 5 years, truthful that I consciousness that we are a existent partnership. So if we ever did divided up, I would get fractional of this location oregon fractional the worth and appreciation of this house.”

“While you tin ever alteration a will—that’s wherefore you spot radical successful the past days of their lives each of a abrupt give their full property to their caregiver—you can’t alteration a prenup.”

Another happening that I’ve seen travel up again and again is high-value gifts. People bargain gifts for each different during marriage. If it’s not thing similar a ringing oregon a portion of jewelry—let’s accidental it’s earthy diamonds oregon a portion of creation oregon a Bentley—and the spouse giving it says, “Oh, baby, this is for you. It’s a day present.” And past they get divorced and abruptly that spouse is like, “No, no, no, no, this wasn’t a present. Of people I’m not going to bargain a $1 cardinal Basquiat for you for your birthday. I bought this for us. This was an plus that I was buying for the community.” We person seen much and much cases similar this, wherever 1 spouse gave a acquisition and past aboriginal contends that it was bought for concern purposes and wasn’t truly a gift. So what we volition enactment successful prenuptial agreements a batch present is that if a acquisition is given, it has to beryllium accompanied by a one-page acknowledgment that says, “Under the presumption of our prenup, I americium denoting this arsenic a gift.”

I’m besides starting to spot a batch of property presumption oregon provisions regarding wills. While you tin ever alteration a will—that’s wherefore you spot radical successful the past days of their lives each of a abrupt give their full property to their caregiver—you can’t alteration a prenup. If an older idiosyncratic is marrying a younger person, the older idiosyncratic whitethorn not privation to hold that if they get divorced, they’re consenting to springiness the younger idiosyncratic fractional of everything they earned oregon created during the marriage. But they mightiness beryllium like, “If I dice and we’re inactive married, adjacent though I person big children from a erstwhile marriage, I’m going to enactment it successful our prenup that you tin proceed to unrecorded successful my location for the remainder of your life. And past erstwhile you die, it’ll spell to my kids.” Or the younger oregon healthier spouse mightiness privation to enactment that successful the prenup, knowing that their spouse could ever alteration their will.

Yes. You tin bash it erstwhile you’re joined arsenic a postnuptial agreement. Here’s an illustration of erstwhile that’s useful. Let’s accidental that during your marriage, a household subordinate dies and you get a immense inheritance. That’s going to beryllium abstracted property; the wealth volition beryllium to you alone. But accidental you privation to marque definite that thing you purchase with that wealth is going to beryllium portion of the community. You tin enactment that successful your postnup.

“You privation to marque definite that you’re not making a postnuptial statement successful spot of what would different beryllium a divorcement settlement.”

The astir important happening I privation to notation for postnuptial agreements—and arsenic I mentioned before, this applies to prenuptial agreements arsenic well—is that determination indispensable beryllium afloat disclosure truthful that cipher enters into 1 of these agreements without afloat knowing what the assets are. This is important truthful that cipher tin accidental 30 years from now, “I would ne'er person signed that successful 2021 if I had known that the banal was worthy truthful much.” You person to supply afloat and capable disclosures of what you person and what its worth is anterior to immoderate transmutation of property.

You privation to marque definite that you’re not making a postnuptial statement successful spot of what would different beryllium a divorcement settlement. Let’s accidental helium cheats connected you, but he’s truthful atrocious and helium loves you truthful much. And you say, “That’s fine, but I privation to bash a postnuptial statement that says that if we get divorced, our house—which has ever been a associated asset—will spell lone to me.” And helium says, “Yes, yes. I emotion you truthful much. I consciousness truthful unspeakable astir cheating connected you. Let’s constitute that up.” So you constitute that up and helium transmutes the location into being your abstracted property. And past a period aboriginal you go, “You cognize what? I inactive hatred you, and I’m breaking up with you.” That could marque the postnuptial statement invalid due to the fact that it would look arsenic if you had conscionable been moving a divorcement statement into a postnup.