Menstuff® has information on prenuptial
agreements.
A Prenuptial Agreement
A Difficult
Remedy: Premarital (Prenuptial) Agreement
How to Obtain a Prenuptial Agreement
Creating a Prenuptial
Agreement
Taking Care of Business
Prenuptial
(Premarital) Agreement Amendment
Termination
of Pre-Nuptial Agreement
Men As Beasts of
Burden
Related
Articles ,
Books
,
Organizations
,
Web
Links ,
Useful
Terms
Though they have been stigmatized in popular culture as cynical arrangements and romance-killers, prenuptial agreements have become more and more common in recent years. Indeed, with approximately 1/3 of all first marriages, and nearly ½ of all second and third marriages, ending in divorce, a prenuptial agreement may be seen not only as practical but as necessary. Without such agreements, the state may either grant each spouse one-half of the marital assets (if they live in a community property state ) or divide the assets based on an “equitable distribution” (if they live in a non-community property state). Any non-traditional or specific allocations that you wish to make should be covered by your prenuptial agreement to avoid the standard distributions.
A prenuptial agreement is a private agreement between two parties who are intending to marry that sets forth the distribution of assets (and debts) that will occur in the event of the parties’ divorce or death.
Among others, this form includes the following key provisions:
This attorney-prepared packet contains:
State Law Compliance: This form complies with the laws of all
states
How to Obtain a Prenuptial Agreement
2. Share your opinions with your partner early on. Present the idea of this legal document in an open and honest way.
3. Encourage your partner to research with you. Encourage him or her to share fears and concerns. Be as specific as possible about why you are for it or against it.
4. Draft up an agreement on your own. You can obtain sample prenups in a variety of guidebooks at your local bookstore.
5. Seek out a lawyer to complete the final draft of the agreement.
Tips
• Bringing up the idea of prenup will most likely cause the other party to feel you don't trust them or that you don't want to share. So it is very important to think about WHY you are doing this.
• Put yourself in your partner's position. How would you want the topic brought up to you?
• Give yourself many months to over a year to talk about creating a prenup.
• You should each have your own lawyer. It will help considerably in obtaining a fair agreement.
Warnings
• Bringing up the topic at your rehearsal wedding may put off the real one.
• If you do not create one you are leaving your marriage under the laws of the state you reside in and you may not agree with the state's laws surrounding marriage.
• For more info on prenups and how to talk about one with
your partner, visit www.equalityinmarriage.org
• Consider that your partner could take your suggestion as sign of mistrust.
• A good source of motivation for working out a pre-nuptial
agreement are the statistics and analysis in the article Men
as Beasts of Burden
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit
this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article
on How to Obtain a Prenuptial Agreement. All content on wikiHow can
be shared under a Creative Commons license.
Creating a Prenuptial Agreement
From a legal perspective, marriage can be viewed similar to a business arrangement. Business transactions should not be entered into without documenting the terms of the arrangement in writing. Likewise, the parties in a marriage should carefully consider how issues will be handled during and/or after a marriage. Without an agreement, the probate court (upon death) or the divorce court will impose an agreement on the parties in those circumstances.
Property Rights
A number of issues can be clarified in a Prenuptial Agreement pertainingn to property rights. For example, the agreement can specify how property -- previously owned or acquired during the marriage -- will be distributed upon divorce or death. Other items which may be addressed include:
Certain Provisions Not Enforceable
Certain Agreement provisions may not be enforceable, such as provisions relieving one party from paying child support or alimony. State law or public policy may prevent a court from enforcing such provisions. Because of differences between the states, the drafting of such provisions should be done in consultation with a lawyer.
For More Information:
Death
of a Spouse
Dissolution
of Marriage
Earnings
during Marriage
Joint
Ownership of Property
Living
Expenses/Debts
Miscellaneous
Provisions
Names
of Children/Support of Children
Revocation
of Prenuptial Agreement
Separate
Property
Taxes
Signing
Instructions
 |
|
 |
