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Prenuptial
What is a Prenuptial Agreement?
Simply put, a Prenuptial Agreement (also known as a Premarital Agreement) is a contract entered into by you and your future spouse; “an agreement between prospective spouses made in contemplation of marriage and to be effective upon marriage”.
Normally, the contract deals with straight forward financial and legal issues in the event of a divorce or a death — what will be done with the house, investments, 401K, alimony and spousal support, or other such marital assets.
It might also include some extras like maintaining life insurance policies, funding of separate accounts, sunset provision terminating the prenuptial agreement, or even what happens to the family pet.
Why a Prenuptial Agreement?
Reason 1
In California, a community property state, it is assumed by law that when you are married, half of all earnings, property accumulated during marriage, as well as appreciation of assets, belongs to your spouse upon divorce.
Reason 2
Some laws regarding rights to marital property or the marital home are dependent on many factors – even assets that were entirely yours coming into the marriage. This causes considerable uncertainty as to who will own what if a divorce occurs.
Reason 3
The amount of alimony and duration is also dependent on many factors – generally, alimony wouldlast for ½ the marriage term, or possibly longer, if married for over 10 years.
Key Benefits of a Prenuptial Agreement
Peace of Mind – California law is complex and may have unintended and surprising consequences add certainty to what your assets and obligations are
Protect Your Assets – secure what is important to you
Sound Decisions – make rational financial decisions at a time where life is good and judgment is clear and uncompromised
Flexible – personalize the prenuptial agreement to meet your needs
Emotional and Money Savings – save time, emotions, and sanity, and avoid costly legal battles and attorneys’ fees
Amendable – you are not locked into the terms of the Prenuptial Agreement, but rather can modify it with life changing events
Our Strengths
Specialized
We exclusively draft and review California Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements.
True Flat Fee Pricing
No hidden costs or charges. No hourly charges.
Flexible & Convenient
We work around your schedule, through phone and email.
What Can I Do With a Prenuptial Agreement?
- Keep finances separate. California designates certain kinds of assets accumulated during marriage as community property, even if these assets are held in the name of just one spouse. You can avoid having some or all of your individual accumulations during marriage divided up by a court through the use of a Premarital Agreement.
- Protect your business. You can include terms regarding management,ownership, and debt of the business. Otherwise you may inadvertently have an additional business partner, your spouse!
- Protect each other from debts. Without a Prenuptial Agreement, creditors can sometimes go after community property to satisfy the debts of one spouse. You can use a Prenup to limit liability for each other’s debts.
- Give up the right to alimony or restrict alimony. California allows for you to limit or have the parties waive their right to alimony — also called spousal support — if there is a divorce. However, for the Prenup to be effective, both parties must be represented by separateattorneys, and at the time of divorce the Premarital Agreement cannot be viewed as “unconscionable” (shocking or outrageous) to a judge.
- Provide for children from prior marriages. A Prenup is important if either of you has children from another relationship and you want to make sure that your children inherit their share of your property.
- Keep assets in the family. If your property includes something you want to keep in your family, whether it is an heirloom or a share in a family business, you can specify that item in your Prenup. This can even include assets that you expect to receive in a future inheritance.
What Can’t I Do With a Prenuptial Agreement?
- Restrict child support, custody, or visitation rights. No court will honor agreements limiting or giving up future child support. The same holds true of agreements limiting future custody and visitation rights. This is because state lawmakers consider the welfare of children to be a matter of public policy and do not enforce any private agreements that would impair a child’s right to be supported or to have a relationship with a parent in the future.
- “Encourage” divorce. At one time, many courts viewed any Prenup specifying how things would be divided up in case the couple splits as void and unenforceable because it was thought to promote divorce. The modern approach allows such agreements, but judges in some states still take a hard look at them. If the agreement appears to offer a financial incentive for divorce to one party, it may be unenforceable.
- Sanction People for Infidelity, Drug Use or Religious Upbringing. In California, courts have not allowed penalties in Prenups that sanction people for infidelity or using recreational drugs. Courts will not enforce requirements that one person will do the dishes or that the children will be raised in a certain religion.
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Survival Guide
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