US PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENTS

A prenuptial agreement is a contract that is entered into before the marriage takes place. The agreement sets forth what will happen to your and your spouse's assets and income in the unfortunate event of divorce, separation or death.

Most importantly, a prenuptial agreement preserves the nature of property in the event that the marriage ends. In other words - separate property can remain separate and not be subject to community property or equitable distribution laws upon the marriage ending.

COMMON FEATURES OF PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENTS

Prenuptial agreements often provide for and allow both spouses:

• To protect his or her own separate property
• To protect himself or herself from the other spouse's debt
• To determine the level of support (alimony) owed to a spouse both in divorce and death

Prenuptial agreements are gaining in popularity. There are many reasons why. One reason is that individuals today are focusing on their careers at an early age and are getting married later on in their lives, after they have accumulated property and financial worth.

Prenuptial agreements are also entered into when one partner has children from a former marriage and would like his or her separate property to go to their own children.

Many prenuptial agreements are entered into simply because couples do not want the courts to dictate who gets what if the marriage should unfortunately end. The frustrations of a divorce can be tremendous to say the least. The greatest problem in most divorces is deciding how to divide your property and money.

A few minutes planning upfront could save exhaustive hours, headaches & tremendous financial hardships, should your marriage end. Courts usually honour premarital agreements unless one person shows that the agreement was likely to promote divorce, was written with the intention of divorcing or was entered into unfairly.

Although you and your spouse can reach an agreement by yourselves as to the general terms of the prenuptial agreement, in most situations two lawyers (representation for each spouse) are required by law in order to finalize the agreement.