8 PROS OF A PRENUP
1. After years of marriage, people often can’t trace what was theirs and what is joint marital property. With a prenup, each party can specify premarital property/assets to remain the separate property of their original owner throughout the marriage.
DID YOU KNOW...?
A prenup does not prevent a spouse from voluntarily contributing their separate property to the marriage at any point—it just prevents that from happening accidentally.
2. Prenups preserve the expectations of the parties and prevent surprises and fighting in the event of a divorce. A properly prepared prenuptial agreement provides a roadmap to help spouses who decide to divorce (for any reason) navigate their way through a very difficult time in their lives with as little legal conflict and expense as possible.
DID YOU KNOW...?
If children are in the picture, another pro of getting a prenuptial agreement allows the divorcing couple to focus on the best interests of their children throughout the separation.
3. The contractual terms of the prenup generally minimize the conflict and remove the need for either party to get nasty or try to gain leverage in the divorce, allowing them to remain laser-focused on minimizing the impact of the split on their minor children.
4. If your partner is entering into the marriage with a lot of debt, a prenup can help ensure that you won’t be responsible for those debts if the marriage ends.
5. A huge pro of a prenup is that it can ensure that the financial burden of raising the children is shared fairly by both partners, particularly if one spouse is likely to quit working to raise kids.
DID YOU KNOW...?
Many people resist the idea of signing a prenup because they feel like they will get a raw deal in the event of a divorce and be left with nothing—especially if they quit their job to raise kids.
It doesn’t have to be that way. A prenuptial agreement can be amended by a married couple at any time to reflect changed life circumstances. A prenuptial agreement also can GUARANTEE either spouse a minimum amount of alimony, so that each party knows their “worst case” alimony scenario in the event of a divorce.
6. If you are significantly wealthier than your partner or have greater earning potential, a prenuptial agreement can help ensure that your partner is marrying you for who you are, rather than for your money.
7. Where one or both of the parties already have children from a prior marriage, a prenup allows each parent to protect the interests of their children as they re-enter a marriage.
DID YOU KNOW...?
A prenup can prevent your spouse from overturning your estate plan, ensuring that your estate plan works the way you intended after you pass. People with children from a prior marriage can use a prenuptial agreement to make sure that specific heirlooms or other property passes to their kids without challenge from their spouse.
8. In 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court finally granted same-sex marriages the same legal footing as marriage between opposite-gender couples, in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges (Decided June 26, 2015). This means that a prenup entered into by a same-sex couple in one state is fully enforceable in another state in the event of a divorce.