If you’re getting legally married, I want you and your spouse to be happy and healthy together for the rest of your days. If for some reason this doesn’t happen and you get divorced, I want your divorce to be a healing, short and satisfactory process. Having a partnership or prenuptial agreement can help in either instance.
Most people believe prenuptial agreements foreshadow divorce or signify distrust, greed, dastardliness and doubt. I think this is ridiculous except in cases where it’s true.
Prenuptial agreements and prenuptial negotiations hold great promise.
- Like seat belts in cars, prenuptial agreements can prevent messy and painful situations and make divorce easier, inexpensive, respectful and kind.
- Conversations about your mutual intentions and expectations speak volumes about compatibility. If you don’t see eye-to-eye on the important issues in life, you can reconsider, and decide not marry. A tough choice, but often the best one if you have different values
- If either of you are wealthy or a trust fund beneficiary, under state laws like California family law, community property may never accrue and/or income may not be available in the event your legally separate or divorce. If this is the case, it’s better to learn about it now and make contrary legally binding agreements today if you can.
- If you or your spouse intend on leaving a career to become a stay at home parent during marriage, the terms of a prenup can predetermine if and when either of you would return to work in the event of legal separation or divorce, and amount and duration of any spousal support payments.
- A prenuptial agreement allows you to maintain control over your very personal and private family business and can spare you from the mercy of a broken legal system where family laws are regularly applied haphazardly and ruin lives in the blink of an eye.
WORDS OF CAUTION: Even the most “air tight” prenuptial agreements can be challenged in court. If, however, they’re really “air tight”, they shouldn’t sink. It’s critical that prenuptial agreements are properly prepared according to applicable laws.
You can learn more about prenuptial (aka premarital) drafting requirements in California Family Code sections 1610 – 1617
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