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Do You Need A Prenuptial Agreement?

19 October 2015 by Richard Ramirez

If you have assets you would like to protect from your spouse in case you someday get divorced, you should consider a prenuptial agreement, often referred to as a prenup. Getting a prenup is not required before getting married, but there are some situations where this kind of contract will be beneficial. Here is what you need to know about getting a prenup.

What Does A Prenup Do?

You may have heard of prenups in the past, but are not sure what they are. The main benefit it provides is defining your financial rights if the marriage ends. It makes it possible for both of you to retain the assets you had prior to getting married, or decide on what happens to those assets. A prenup can also be used to decide on issues such as alimony.

What Will Happen When You Do Not Have A Prenup?

Prenups not only protect your assets from going to your spouse during a divorce, but it prevents you from taking on your spouse's debts. Everything is split during a divorce, and you may find yourself being responsible for debts that your spouse had before you got married.

While cash assets are very easy to divide, property is not. A divorce is often a cause for selling a home prematurely because it is an asset that must be divided. If you have property that you owned before getting married, you could state that the property will remain yours after a divorce in a prenup, eliminating the need to divide it between two people.

How Can You Create A Prenup?

Drafting a prenup on your own is possible, but not recommended. A prenup must be approved by the court before it becomes a valid legal document. This means it needs to be carefully written and legally sound, two things that may not be a possibility if you draft the prenup on your own. A prenup must also be signed by both spouses to prove that they understand the legal terms they are agreeing to.

A lawyer can help you draft your prenup since they have the expertise of understanding what a court will need to see in the document. A lawyer can also help with any negotiations that need to go into a prenup when it is being created.

Now that you know more about what prenuptial agreements are, you can decide if it is something you want to do prior to getting married. 

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