A marital agreement does not solve all the problems you may have with your spouse. Find out what a pre-marriage contract can and cannot do to protect you and your spouse`s interests. Viera adds that prenups are created in a “period of love and teamwork” to discover what is best for the couple – which is better and cheaper than knowing everything during a hard-fought divorce. Pre-marital agreements (also known as marriage contracts or prenups) are a common legal step that takes place before marriage. A prenup establishes the property and financial rights of each spouse in the event of a divorce. While no one thinks about getting divorced when they get married, about half of all marriages in America end up in divorce proceedings. It is therefore often wise to consider at least one marital agreement. Prenups are often used to protect the property of wealthy spouses, but they can also protect family businesses and perform other important functions. Learn more about the state`s legal requirements for marriage agreements and whether they are right for you. Marital agreements have always been a subject of controversy for couples. Media portrayals of marital agreements show them as devices used by celebrities and other similar wealthy individuals to limit the amount of wealth an ex-spouse can claim. Russell D. Knight, a divorce lawyer in Florida, says that people often want a prenup, so they can keep what they put into marriage, which usually already protects the law – when financial assets are mixed, things get complicated, and as Knight points out, it happens more easily than they think.
Marriage often changes your real estate, personal property and financial rights. As a result, many couples who are preparing for marriage use prenups to change, improve or deny many of the failing legal implications of marriage. Antenuptial Settlement Agreement generally allows couples to enjoy the benefits of marriage while creating legal relationships that work for their lifestyle after the date of their marriage. You can address any of the following topics in a marriage contract according to Massachusetts General Law, Chapter 209, No. 25: In drafting an agreement, it is important to recognize that there are two types of state laws that govern divorce – a fair distribution, practiced by 41 states, and co-ownership that is practiced in certain variants of 9 states. An agreement written in a state of Community property cannot be intended to govern what happens in a fair distribution state and vice versa. It may be necessary to retain lawyers in both states to cover the eventual case where the parties may be living in a state other than the one in which they were married. Often, people have more than one house in different states or they move a lot because of their work, so it is important to take this into account when developing.