prenuptial agreements
pre-marital agreements
post-marital agreements
cohabitation agreements
goals for prenups
Preservation of Estate Plans
A marriage can defeat estate plans, whether they are dynasty plans or simple wills to protect children from prior marriages. If there is a divorce, without a prenuptial agreement, a spouse may have a right to some portion of family wealth that was not generated by the couple. When there is a death, a spouse has a legal right to make a claim against the estate of a deceased spouse if she or he did not receive “enough” of the estate.
A prenuptial agreement can prevent this from happening.
changing the rules of dissolution
A prenuptial agreement can also give spouses different rules in the event of a divorce than the rules provided by the state. For example, the state has given couples rules for how property and debt will be divided in the event of a divorce. If couples do not like those particular rules, they can make their own with a prenuptial agreement.
decreasing the costs of dissolution
One of the reasons that divorce can be so expensive is that the state’s rules for divorce are not completely clear. As a result, judges have a lot of discretion in deciding how property and debt will be divided. People can cut down on the costs of divorce by making rules that are very clear, and therefore taking some of this discretion away from judges.
One of our primary areas of focus is prenuptial agreements. We help people with sophisticated estates, often passed down through generations, to plan how wealth will be transferred.
Prerequisites to an enforceable prenuptial agreement
In order to be enforceable, a prenuptial agreement must be in writing and have been voluntarily signed by both of the parties, and there must be a full disclosure of the income, assets and debts of each party before the agreement is signed. Each party must have access to legal representation before the agreement is signed. If each party is not represented, there must be standard language in the agreement that advises the parties that:
If you sign this agreement, you may be:
- Giving up your right to be supported by the person you are marrying or to whom you are married
- Giving up your right to ownership or control of money and property
- Agreeing to pay bills and debts of the person you are marrying or to whom you are married
- Giving up your right to money and property if your marriage ends or the person to whom you are married dies
- Giving up your right to have your legal fees paid