3 Reasons to Sign a Postnuptial Agreement
You don’t want a divorce, but you have enough legal questions about your marriage that you are reading a family law blog. You might be able to resolve your conflict with a postnuptial agreement. A postnuptial agreement is not a legal separation; the parties remain together after they sign the post-nup, and their marital property that they own at the time they sign the post-nup usually remains marital. A postnuptial agreement is a lot like a prenuptial agreement, in that it sets out in detail what will happen to each of the couple’s assets in the event of a divorce; it can even specify what will happen when one spouse dies. As with prenups, people who have children from previous marriages are more likely to sign post-nups. As for children, you cannot make any decisions about custody or child support in a prenup or post-nup; the court handles those matters separately. Not everyone needs a postnuptial agreement, but here are some situations in which couples can really benefit from them. A South Florida family law attorney can help you draft a postnuptial agreement.
Disagreements Over Finances Brought You to the Brink of Divorce and Back
Money has always been a source of conflict in your marriage, to the point where you separated and maybe even filed for divorce. You want to reconcile, but in order to rebuild trust in your marriage, you need to put in writing which property belongs to which spouse. Since you separated once, you know that divorce is a possibility, and if you later decide to divorce, you will have already worked out a lot of the property division issues.
Your Financial Situation Has Changed Since You Signed the Prenup
A post-nup can help you avoid conflict if you have acquired a substantial amount of separate property since you got married, especially if your prenup did not account for this property. Separate property like inheritance money or personal injury settlements can be reclassified as marital property if you use it for marital purposes. In your post-nup, you can specify that the money from your PI settlement will remain separate property if you divorce even if, right now, you use some of it to renovate the marital home or help your spouse pay down her student loans.
Your New Business Partner Is Pressuring You to Sign One
If you are forming a new business partnership, your business partner might worry about the business assets getting mixed up in the division of property if you and your spouse divorce. A post-nup can function as a declaration that your spouse is not a business partner in your new venture.
Reach Out to Us Today for Help
A postnuptial agreement does not have to mean that you are on the road to divorce; it can be a step toward accomplishing your career goals or building your estate plan. A Boca Raton divorce attorney can answer your questions about postnuptial agreements. Contact Schwartz | White for more information.
Resource:
kiplinger.com/personal-finance/601896/thinking-of-divorce-before-you-split-you-could-try-this-1-thing-instead
