A Prenuptial Agreement Can Keep the Peace in Your Single Income Marriage
It is easy for married couples to operate for years on unspoken assumptions about what is mine and what is ours, and they often do not know that their assumptions are mismatched unless they get divorced. You have probably heard horror stories of dual income couples where both couples worked constantly, spent constantly, and divorced with piles of debt and disagreed bitterly about which spouse was responsible for how much of it. Perhaps your desire to avoid this scenario was why you decided that, in your marriage, only one spouse will earn employment income; this way, neither spouse has any doubt that the money belongs to the whole family. Operating as a single income family does not infallibly protect your marriage against divorce, nor does it protect you from conflicts about money while you are married. Young people are increasingly embracing prenuptial agreements. For various reasons, some of them are also embracing the single income family model. If you choose to operate as a single income family, a prenuptial agreement can act as a clear framework about managing family finances together or separately. If you want to show the family members who are casting doubt on your tradwife dreams that you know what you are doing, contact a Boca Raton prenuptial and postnuptial agreements lawyer.
Drafting a Prenuptial Agreement That Provides for Both Spouses for Better or for Worse
If you think your Dad was bitter about paying alimony to your Mom even though she worked throughout the marriage except for brief maternity leaves when you and your siblings were babies, don’t assume that your husband will be any less bitter about paying alimony to you even if you stick to your plan of being a single income family, but your marriage ends in divorce.
Therefore, your prenup should say that the husband will not pay alimony. Instead, the wife will set up a bank account which will remain her separate property, and he shall give her a monetary gift on every anniversary. The prenup should specify the amount, but it should allow flexibility for lean years; for example, the amount might be $10,000 or five percent of the husband’s taxable income for the year, whichever is less. This way, if the wife spends the money and then later asks for a divorce, she does so at her own risk. If the couple divorces, the wife will have to enter the workforce, but she won’t be starting from zero financially. If the parties stay married until one spouse dies, then the anniversary gift bank account belongs to the wife to bequeath to the beneficiaries of her will as she chooses.
Contact Schwartz | White About Prenuptial Agreements for People Who Have Everything Figured Out
A South Florida family law attorney can help you draft a prenuptial agreement that prepares you for the best-case scenario, the worst-case scenario, and everything in between. Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.
Source:
brides.com/guide-to-prenups-5094310
