No married or engaged couple can know exactly what lies ahead, but they can safeguard their future with a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. If a couple never divorces, it may be because a marital agreement helped the marriage endure by forcing them to address in advance the types of disagreements that frequently turn into marriage-ending arguments. Or, a divorcing couple may find that the marital agreement they signed long ago is helping them avoid protracted divorce litigation.
We understand some find the subject too awkward to bring up. However, we encourage couples to view marital agreement as they do auto insurance – you never want to use it, but it is there in case you need it.
The difference between a prenuptial and postnuptial agreement is that a prenuptial agreement is entered into before you get married whereas a postnuptial agreement is entered into after you are already married. Both help couples plan in advance for matters related to: defining separate property, defining community property, allocating division of assets, and setting conditions for payment of spousal support (or alternatively, couples may agree to waive spousal support altogether). What marital agreements cannot do is plan for matters related to child support, child custody, and visitation.
We firmly believe that all couples should at least consider entering into a marital agreement, whether before or after marriage. We would be happy to sit down with you to get details in order to draft the marital agreement for you. On the other hand, if you have been presented with a marital agreement, we can definitely review it and advise you to help you understand all the terms before signing.