Premarital or prenuptial agreements are written agreements made between parties prior to getting married. Frequently, both parties are able to better protect themselves from a bitter and protracted court battle by developing a marital contract to address potential problem areas should unforeseen circumstances before getting married.
If prenuptial agreements are properly drafted, they are typically enforceable as long as each party has an attorney to represent their interests at signing, without the presence of coercion or fraud throughout during the negotiations.
Prenuptial agreements are also an important tool to use in estate planning-especially for blended families. Prenuptial Pre-marital agreements can help distribute ensure property is distributed to children of first marriages contractually in the event of the death of a spouse who does not have the appropriate estate plan in place.
These documents can address a number of topics present in a typical divorce as well, including clearly identifying non-marital property, property division, equitable distribution of assets, and spousal support or maintenance in the event of divorce.
Often, they work best if you put your property into a living trust and have a prenuptial agreement. By doing both, they become more enforceable and it helps determine what was marital and what was pre-marital in terms of property.
