8 Reasons Why You Should Get a Prenuptial Agreement a prenuptial agreement is an agreement between two people that deals with the financial consequences of their marriage ending.

All marrying couples have a “prenuptial agreement” – it is known as “divorce law.” However, a lot of people are unhappy with the way divorce law works, and prefer to take control of their lives, rather than leave it in the hands of the government. In these cases, it makes a lot of sense to get a customized prenup.

Getting a prenuptial agreement is particularly important in these 8 cases:

1. You are much wealthier than your partner. A prenuptial agreement can ensure that your partner is marrying you for who you are, and not for your money.

2. You earn much more than your partner. A prenuptial agreement can be used in many states to limit the amount of alimony that is payable.

3. You are remarrying. When you remarry, your legal and financial concerns are often very different than in your first marriage. You may have children from a previous marriage, support obligations, and own a home or other significant assets. A prenuptial agreement can ensure that when you pass away, your assets are distributed according to your wishes, and that neither your first family, nor your new family are cut off.

4. Your partner has a high debt load. If you are marrying someone with a significant debt load, and don’t want to be responsible for these debts if your marriage ends, then a prenuptial agreement can help ensure that this does not happen.

5. You own part of a business. Without a prenuptial agreement, when your marriage ends, your spouse could end up owning a share of your business. Your business partners may not want this to happen. A prenup can ensure that your spouse does not become an unwanted partner in your business.

6. To prevent your spouse from overturning your estate plan. A prenuptial agreement can ensure that you estate plan works, and, for instance, ensure that a specific heirloom remains in your family.

7. You are much poorer than your partner. Just as a prenuptial agreement can be used to protect a spouse who is well off, a prenup can also be used to ensure that the partner who is weaker financially is protected.

8. If you plan to quit your job to raise children. Quitting your job will negatively impact your income and your wealth. A prenuptial agreement can ensure that the financial burden of raising the children is shared fairly by both partners.

What Can & Can’t Be In a Prenuptial Agreement

The range of what can be in a prenuptial agreement is flexible and can accommodate most of the individual wants and desires that a marrying couple may have. On the other hand, there are some strict rules about what cannot be in a prenuptial agreement.

Generally, a prenuptial agreement can deal with the following:

(a) division of property on divorce;

(b) whether particular items are considered community property or separate property;

(c) ownership of the marital residence;

(d) responsibility for premarital debts;

(e) distribution of property on death (although you also need to update your estate planning documents to reflect his);

(f) alimony obligations (in most States);

(g) financial responsibilities during the marriage;

(h) under which state’s law the prenup is (otherwise it will be the state of the divorce, and not the marriage);

(i) how disputes about the prenup are to be resolve (for instance through mediation or arbitration); and

(j) sunset clause – many couples allow that their prenuptial agreement will not be valid if they are married for a certain number of years.

There are a number of limitations to prenuptial agreements. Prenuptial agreements cant deal with the following:

(a) custody of the children (this includes things such as in what religion to raise the children, their schooling, etc.);

(b) visitation to the children;

(c) child support;

(d) anything “illegal” (as with most contracts); and

(e) anything “unconscionable” (unfair)

(f) anything that is thought to encourage divorce;

Although most states permit prenuptial agreements to deal with alimony, a court is allowed to invalidate the alimony provisions if the judge believe them to be unjust. This will normally occur in long term marriages if there is a great disparity between spouses’ incomes and no or little alimony being paid.

Finally, although items that deal with particular aspects of married life, such as the division of household responsibilities, are allowed to be in a prenuptial agreement, including these may actually make increase the likelihood of a prenuptial agreement being invalidated. If this sort of thing is important to you and your spouse, it is best to put them in a separate agreement.