If you have pending nuptials, perhaps you should consider a prenuptial agreement. After all, there a variety of benefits to having a prenuptial agreement in place. For starters, it can lay a solid foundation for your marriage. Many people fail to acknowledge the fact that, in putting a prenuptial agreement in place, both parties make detailed financial disclosures and even include terms dictating how marital finances will be handled. The setting of expectations and financial honest can be a great way to start out a marriage. Furthermore, prenuptial agreements can be invaluable in the event of divorce. It can eliminate the need for any drawn out, emotionally and financially draining legal battles. When establishing your prenuptial agreement, here are some things you should consider.
Things to Consider When Drafting Your Prenuptial Agreement
When you are in the midst of drafting your prenuptial agreement, you should consider the terms you wish to include and the details you wish to set forth. Some of the most common terms you will find in prenuptial agreements relate to:
- Division of property: When it comes to terms regarding division of property, some couples choose to specify what property will remain separate and, thus would not be subject to division in the event of divorce but would instead remain under the sole ownership of one spouse. Additionally, and perhaps most prominently, prenuptial agreements often address how marital property should be divided in the event of divorce.
- Marital finances: Terms pertaining to marital finance can address how finances will be managed over the course of the marriage. Some details you may wish to include may be something like who will be responsible for paying certain bills during the marriage.
- Debt obligations: Terms regarding debt obligation can dictate who will be responsible for certain debts, especially those debts brought into the marriage. The prenuptial agreement can specify that the spouse who brough in a debt will remain the solely responsible party for that debt.
- Children rights: Prenuptial agreements can also be utilized as a kind of estate planning tool. With the proper terms included, you can protect the inheritance rights of children you may have from previous relationships where otherwise there may be scenarios where they would lose rights to accessing your estate.
- Alimony: Where state’s sometimes do not allow the waiver of alimony rights altogether, a prenuptial agreement may still be used to specify how much an alimony award will be for in the event of divorce.
Family Law Attorneys
If you have even considered putting a prenuptial agreement in place, it is worth exploring your options and discussing the potential benefits. For any questions you may have regarding prenuptial agreements, you can count on the experienced family law team at Navarrete & Schwartz for answers. Should you and your future spouse wish to pursue the drafting of a prenuptial agreement, we can create an agreement that reflects your goals and intentions. We are proud to serve the residence of Midland, Texas. Contact us today.