You’ve worked hard to accumulate your wealth. As such, you probably want to do everything you can to protect it. While this means engaging in smart investments and creating an effective estate plan, it also means being careful with how your finances are handled during your marriage. After all, a divorce could leave your hard-earned assets up for grabs, potentially depriving you of what you feel is rightfully yours.
Of course, if you’re on the brink of marriage, then you also want to support your spouse. But you can do both by utilizing a prenuptial agreement. This agreement specifies financial obligation during the marriage while also specifying how assets will be divided in the event of divorce, which can provide both spouses with peace of mind.
Should you use a prenuptial agreement?
It depends on your circumstances and what you’re comfortable with. However, there are some situations that may be more worthy of a prenuptial agreement. These include:
- Business ownership: Your business may be your financial lifeline in the even that you divorce. If you end up losing half or even all of the business in your divorce, then you can be placed in a financial bind. To avoid that, you may want to consider entering into a prenuptial agreement that protects your business interests and what you’ve worked hard to build.
- You’ve received or are expecting to receive a large inheritance: Inheritances can quickly be commingled with marital assets, leaving them susceptible to the property division process. By utilizing a prenuptial agreement, though, you can ensure that you protect those assets and that your spouse understands that those assets will remain separate and outside the marital estate.
- You have children from another relationship: If you have children from another relationship, then you’ll want to do everything you can to protect their financial interests, too. If you lose half or more than half of your money in your divorce, then that leaves your children from another relationship with very little to inherit from you. To avoid that from happening, you may want to take your children into account when you’re thinking about creating a prenuptial agreement.
- You want certainty: Sure, you hope that your marriage will last forever, but there’s a chance that it will end sooner than expected. This can leave you with a lot of financial uncertainty. You can alleviate that unsettled feeling, though, by creating a prenuptial agreement that protects you and your future financial standing.
- Major debt is a concern: While a prenuptial agreement is oftentimes focused on protecting your money, it can also protect you from suddenly being responsible for your spouse’s debt. Since prenuptial agreements are supposed to be generated with a full understanding of each spouse’s financial positioning, negotiating one of these agreements can give you a full picture of your spouse’s financial picture, thereby giving you guidance as to how to protect your interests.
Take the legal action necessary to protect your interests
Although you’re embarking on a journey to build a life together with your spouse, you still need to have the foresight necessary to protect your individual interests. That can be hard to think about, though, especially in the context of a prenuptial agreement where it may be difficult to figure out how to broach the topic with your soon-to-be spouse.
But by having a legal professional by your side, you can develop the strategy that you need to both protect your future and start your marriage on the right foot. To learn more about prenuptial agreements and the legal steps that you can take now, please consider reaching out to a legal professional of your choosing.