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NOW IS THE TIME TO POP THE PRENUP QUESTION

By: Anastasia Greer, Legal Intern at JUSTLAW

While November through March is peak proposal season, there is no better time to begin prenuptial planning than in the months to follow. On its surface, it may not be the most romantic idea to think about, but it can help you even for a second in the long run. 

The real truth is that our world’s divorce rates are hard to overlook. Recent stats show that the current divorce rate in the U.S. is 42.6%. As for the number of marriages, 41%-50% of first-time marriages end in divorce, and this number jumps to 60% for second-time marriages. Think about it this way: smart, proactive couples (and families) plan for the worst case scenarios as part of their everyday lives, but these events (earthquakes, fire, pandemic), are the sort of catastrophic events that have a near 5% or less chance of happening. Given the aforementioned odds of getting divorced, it is in you and your future-spouse’s best interests to at least consider getting a prenup.

BEFORE MARRIAGE. “PRE”-NUPTIAL

By its own definition, a “prenuptial agreement” is a contract that is agreed to and is signed before marriage. Our team at JUSTLAW ideally recommends one to three months before marriage to make prenuptial arrangements. By and large, there is no hard timeline by law in most states in which you should sign your prenuptial agreement – only at a “reasonably early point prior to your wedding.” 

Besides timing, you should also be aware of the specific terms for validity that may be required by your state. For example, CA requires at least 7 days to pass after being presented with the prenup until you can sign it. But in states like Texas, there is no minimum number of days required for a prenup to be signed. If you and your spouse put things off to days before the wedding, there may be unforeseen legal implications if you were to try to enforce the agreement in the future. In the worst case, the prenup could be thrown out entirely. Part of this issue may be that a court whether the agreement was made under pressure or coercion in the immediate days leading to your marriage. On the flip side, there may be issues that the agreement was made too far in advance of your marriage such that neither you or your future spouse remember what you agreed to or that circumstances have changed so significantly the prenup is materially affected. 

AFTER MARRIAGE.“POST”-NUPTIAL

Brides.com recommends “at least 30 days to pass” before your wedding date to sign your prenup. But, what happens if you and your spouse put the process off altogether and get married without a prenup? Postnups are exactly like they sound and can allow a couple to have protections in the event of divorce, but are less widely accepted state to state. This is partially because they are less widely accepted in the U.S. than prenuptial agreements – and therefore, they are far less likely to be enforced in a court of law. Oftentimes, when married partners enter into a contract, it is presumed that the disadvantaged party was unduly influenced in some way. Another disadvantage to post-nup agreements is more personal. Couples already have trepidations about how to approach these conversations (read more tips here), and there is a real fear that asking for a postnup might not make your partner feel you are committed to the marriage. Another issue with postnups may arise when the assets you started your marriage with have appreciated (or, in some cases depreciated) in value and, in doing so, may make it harder to delineate what property is “shared” or separate between the two of you. 

If you haven’t gotten down on one knee and proposed a prenup yet— there is no better time to do so than now. Finish your agreement and get on the same page as your partner before it’s too late! 

If you’re considering a prenuptial agreement as a new years resolution, contact our skilled JUSTLAW attorneys at 1-888-587-8187 and schedule a free consultation today! 

MORE MILLENNIALS? MORE PRENUPS.

Find out why more Millennials are getting prenuptials than any other generation to-date.

By: Anastasia Greer, Legal Intern at JUSTLAW

prenup

Besides their being billionaires, did you know what else Kim Kardashian, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg have in common? They all signed prenuptial agreements before marriage. And they are just a few of the climbing numbers of Millennials who are opting for prenuptial agreements before marriage.

Twelve years ago, Harris Interactive ran a survey to find that only 3% of those polled who were married or engaged had signed a prenuptial agreement before marriage. However, Harris took the same poll this year and found a staggering 12% of those surveyed opted for prenups. Specifically, the Harris poll found that 40% of Millennials (those ages 18 to 34) who were engaged and married had signed a prenup. In fact, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers found 62% of its family law attorney members saw an increase in clients seeking prenuptial agreements since 2016. Michael Waters, the freelance writer for the New Yorker, attributes this to the fact that younger people have a more realistic, logical view of marriage as a financial contract. On Market Watch’s “Best New Ideas in Money” podcast, Waters found:

“Marriage is for love, obviously, but it’s also about personal assets, and I think that is really influencing younger people’s willingness and desire to sign prenups in the first place…”

Quentin Fottrell, Market Watch Managing Editor for Personal Finances, also attributes the trend to our current state of the economy – especially to issues surrounding debt: 

 

“These are all good things to know about before you get married because if you have to write a prenuptial agreement, you’re going to have to open your bank accounts and you’re gonna have to share your financial statements about your student loans, your credit card debts . . . and you’re going to have to be transparent.”

So why exactly are Millennials taking the prenup path? Many sources attribute this to factors including

(1) marriage later in life,

(2) mounting student debt,

(3) more women in support of prenuptials, and

(4) because Millennials acquire more assets before marriage.

No matter the reason, Millennials are embracing prenuptial agreements in light of our current day and age. 

According to Cheryl Winokur Munk of the Wall Street Journal, the “mindset change” of 

Millennials toward prenups “is even true for clients who don’t have significant assets to protect going into the marriage.” What is more, Millennials are seeking to incorporate new social and economic issues in these agreements – including social media presentation, student debt, and even rights to frozen embryos. Working together with your partner to craft a prenuptial agreement makes for a smoother transition into marriage. 

If you want to learn more about prenups to see if one is right for you, JUSTLAW offers a wealth of knowledge, resources, and services to create a fast, valid, and painless prenup! See here for more.

Schedule a free consultation today!

Prenuptial Agreements: What does State Law Allow

Marriages, engagements, divorces and just about everything you can imagine that has to do with a family or a couple is governed by individual state laws. That is to say, family law is state law. However, while state law attempts to strive for fairness and equitable distribution, the law may not be the best for your situation. Prenuptial agreements allow for engaged couples to choose their own destiny.

Here are some common areas that are handled by state law and how a prenuptial agreement can avoid the state law from taking effect:

  1. Assets

When a couple divorces, much effort is spent dividing up the assets that both spouses accumulated during the marriage, otherwise known as marital property. States take two different approaches as to how marital property is divided up. One is referred to as a community property jurisdiction and the other is referred to as an equitable distribution jurisdiction.

Community property jurisdictions are only recognized in Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. Such states divide marital property evenly, using a 50/50 split. In the more common method of equitable distribution, judges divide up the property in an equitable or fair manner depending on the individual circumstances of the divorcing couple. Both methods allow for separate property, property that spouses owned before the marriage, to stay with that spouse, post-divorce.

In most cases if not all, divorced couples fight and fight over how their assets should be divided. Regardless, state law controls and it ultimately leaves either one of the divorcees or both divorcees upset. That is exactly why prenuptial agreements are so important for a couple looking to marry. By adding a provision in the pre nup detailing how your assets shall be divided post-divorce, the couple has planned ahead for the worst case scenarios. Don’t let a judge decide how your assets will be divided, do it yourself.

  1. Debts

State laws handle debt similarly to assets. Spousal debt is either separate property that has essentially began to accumulate before the marriage or marital debt that has begun to build during the marriage.

Prenuptial agreements can include a provision that divides debts based on your preferences. This is especially important if your fiancé has a significant amount of debt, and you want to ensure you will not be responsible for some or any of it, post-divorce.

  1. Spousal support

It is very common for a married couple to include one spouse who works and another who stays home full time to care for their children. In many instances, when a couple of similar circumstances divorces, the stay-at-home spouse is entitled to spousal support from the working spouse. Factors that a judge will use to determine the amount of spousal support regularly include the stay-at-home spouse’s earning capacity at the time of the divorce, the length of the marriage, and the state’s divorce laws. Judges usually have the final say as to how spousal support is conducted, and their decisions may be to your dismay.

Once again, following the same theme as above, a prenuptial agreement can avoid a judge’s arbitrary decision on the award of spousal support. A pre nup can limit spousal support, post-divorce, based on your wishes.


If you read this and want absolutely nothing to do with state family law, click here and we can find an experienced lawyer to join you for a quick consultation and pre nup for a limited time offer of $569. Take advantage quick before this offer ends!

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