Print Article for : For A Prenuptial Agreement

[F493]For A Prenuptial Agreement

by David F., Dav

The Americans for Divorce Reform estimates that forty to fifty percent of marriages will end in divorce if current trends continue. Many are familiar with the term "Family's that pray together stay together." The Barna Research Group has proven through recent studies that 29% of Baptists, 25% of Protestants, 24% of Mormons, 21% of Catholics, and 21% of Lutherans have gone through a divorce. With so many divorces its ridiculous that everyone isn't signing a prenup.

The first advantage of a prenuptial agreement I want to talk about is avoiding legal costs and unnecessary attorney fees if you find yourself in divorce court. If Anna Nicole had entered into a prenuptial agreement or living together agreement with Howard Stern, her assets would not be in question and her living daughter would receive them. A prenuptial agreement will make sure that property will be distributed as the couple wishes, in life or possible death! Any one whose gone through a messy divorce will tell you that a considerable amount of your wealth will be lost to your spouse, legal fees, fees charged by appraisers, expert witnesses, and so forth.

The second advantage of a prenuptial agreement is if you fear your children of your first marriage will not get a distribution of your wealth in the event of a divorce or death you can fix that with a prenup. In your prenuptial agreement you'll set forth the details of how your property will be distributed upon divorce or death.

A third advantage of a prenuptial agreement is if you have a family business(es), heirlooms, or other family assets within the family you can protect those assets and distribute them accordingly with a prenup. The descendant's spouse cannot lay claim to your family assets if he/she is not the intended heir. You can make such family assets immune to claims from the new spouse with a prenuptial agreement.

Another advantage of a prenuptial agreement is you can protect your business assets. Owners of a closely held corporation or partnership can use a prenup to prevent the spouse from obtaining voting rights or claims against the business. In a prenuptial agreement form you can add that your prospective spouse waive all rights to the owner-spouse's interest in the business in the event of a divorce or death. Also, you can state in your prenup that your spouse will be the new shareholder or partner upon the event of death, and that the remaining owners are required to purchase the descendant's share of the business. In the prenup you can even specify how much the share must be sold and the period by which your spouse will receive all the money.

The fifth advantage of a prenuptial agreement is protection against creditors. If one spouse has substantial debts before marriage you can get a prenup to protect the assets of the other spouse from creditors of the debtor spouse. Having the debtor spouse sign a prenuptial agreement that wants to waive the debtor spouse's claims to the new spouse's assets does this. You can also specify you want the waiver until the event of a divorce or death.

The sixth and final advantage I'll talk about is protection against disposition of property. A prenuptial agreement can ensure that a couple's property will be distributed according to their intentions. This is a useful feature since often times disputes do arise over how marital property should be allocated. You can also transfer property from one spouse to the other to create separate or joint property rights.

It's a different world in 2005. You can now enter into a contract before you're married, called a prenuptial agreement. They have been around for thousands of years but never so defined, as now. It clearly lays out the economic and personal expectations before the marriage even takes place, leaving no surprises later. If the marriage fails it explains how the assets will be split up. If support will be paid to one or both parties and who will be responsible for paying the lawyer.

Almost half the states have adopted the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act. For the states that haven't you should look into the law of the state, to see whether or not a contract can be entered into between the partners. Both parties must both be a financial position to enter into a contract and of an age that is acceptable in the state they live.

Both partners must also with total honesty reveal their assets and so later if things don't work out, the other party can not claim fraud which would make the contract invalid. If someone lies and it is proven the facts entered are not accurate or the extent of his or her property is not accurate the contract will be ruled void. There can be no pressure or duress in an attempt to get the upper hand. Both parties must have an opportunity to review the contract and decide if the contract is fair and to enter into the contract of their own free will. Sometimes, prenuptial agreements are ruled void because the prenuptial agreement appeared right before the wedding and putting the person in a stressful position which is in violation of the law.

Both parties must be sign the prenuptial agreement, and they must each have their own Attorney. Besides protecting the assets of each party, there is also the concern of protecting children from a prior marriage. You want to be certain that assets that existed prior to the marriage remain separate so as not to create a dispute over inheritance between between children from the other partner. You must be sure to protect yourself and your children, and above all take your time as haste makes waste.

Is it Possible for a Prenuptial Agreement to be challenged?

Anything can be challenged, but if you cross your T's and dot you I's, it is less likely that the challenge will be successful. The contract can be attacked if the law has not been followed of one or both of the parties were dishonest concerning financial or personal information, or they did not reveal everything required. Sometimes it is very hard to prove the true assets as people in a strong financial position as they can create corporation where their name is not listed. You have to leave this up to your lawyer and if the relationship ends it will call for a more detailed search. The burden rests with the party seeking to establish that the agreement is unenforceable.

Article Source :

About Author

Both David F. & Jeffrey Broobin are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

David F. has sinced written about articles on various topics from Article Writing, Legal Matters and Forex Trading Forex. This article was provided by LegalFormsBank.biz where you can download your state's specific . A. David F.'s top article generates over 246000 views. to your Favourites.

Jeffrey Broobin has sinced written about articles on various topics from Estate Planning, Legal Matters and Recreation and Sports. . Jeffrey Broobin's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.