Be financially savvy with a prenuptial agreement

Often, people think that prenuptial agreements are a sign that they aren’t trusted. If they’re approached with the request to sign one, they may be insulted or hurt.

It’s better to look at a prenuptial agreement as a contract that may help you and your future spouse have the protections you need as you move forward in life together. While the prenuptial agreement does address how to divide assets, as well as other topics, that you might discuss during a divorce, they aren’t a sign that you’ll necessarily divorce in the future.

Instead, they provide guidance on how to end your marriage in the future. Best of all, you are making decisions about the agreement now when you’re happiest with your partner, which means that both of you are more likely to be fair when designing the contract.

Do you need legal support if your spouse suggests a prenuptial agreement?

It is not a bad idea to get legal support to go over a suggested prenuptial agreement, because spoken agreements or agreements handwritten without witnesses generally don’t hold up well in court.

Think about it this way: You want to create a contract that is in both of your benefits. If the contract is one-sided, it may not be upheld if you divorce. Having your attorneys go over the contract now will make sure it’s binding and help each of you know exactly how the terms could affect you in the future.

A well-designed prenuptial agreement can put you both at ease

Whether one of you is coming into the marriage with a greater number of assets than the other or one of you has debts that you don’t want to pass on to your spouse, a prenuptial agreement is an excellent tool to use to protect yourselves.

If you aren’t comfortable talking about a prenuptial agreement, at least start the conversation by going over your finances with your spouse. If you are concerned about debts or assets, see how they feel about using the prenuptial agreement after agreeing verbally on how you’d divide them. Having a discussion first may help prevent your partner from feeling blindsided, making the entire conversation easier.