Three Problems A Prenuptial Agreement Can Solve, And One It Cannot

Prenuptial agreements are effective at preventing conflict about money, debt, and property during marriage, in divorce cases, and even during the probate of the estate of the spouse who dies first.  If you and your partner can reach an agreement about property issues before you get married, it means you can communicate well and can reach a compromise when necessary.  Of course, prenups are not a magic bullet for avoiding or resolving conflicts; if you need proof, just look at Kelly Clarkson’s divorce or Kim Kardashian’s divorce.  Especially if your net worth is seven figures or fewer, you can avoid most prenup-related disputes by having a Tampa family lawyer draft or review your prenuptial agreement before you sign it.

Prenups Can Resolve the Issue of Pet Custody

As much as you consider your four-legged friends part of the family, but the law considers them property, which means you can make decisions about them in a prenuptial agreement.  “Pet nups” are increasingly popular, especially among younger couples.  It is possible for divorced couples to share pet ownership, just as they can continue joint ownership of a business or a real estate property after a divorce if they choose to do so.

Prenups Are an Essential Estate Planning Document

Most people sign prenups with the expectation that they will never divorce, and in many cases, their expectation is correct.  Prenups are one of the most effective ways to prevent blended families from staging protracted battles in probate.  If at least one spouse has children from a previous marriage, the couple needs a prenup.  Think about it as needing a prenup because you and your spouse are never going to divorce.

Prenups Can Simplify Religious Divorce for Jewish Couples

So-called halachic prenups are gaining popularity among Jewish couples.  In Reform Judaism, a couple’s religious marriage is automatically dissolved when a civil court issues a divorce judgment, but in Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, the parties must go through a separate process to dissolve the marriage under Jewish law, or else the parties will not be able to enter into new religiously valid marriages.  In Orthodox Judaism, the husband must issue a document called a Get, and some cases where a husband refused to issue his estranged wife a Get, despite the protests of the community, have made national news.  In your prenuptial agreement, you can stipulate that you will not withhold the Get from your wife if you get divorced in civil court.

Prenups Cannot Help You When It Comes to Parenting Disputes or Child Support

In a prenuptial agreement, you can make almost any agreement you choose about property or even the status of your religious marriage, but you cannot make legally binding agreements about children you currently have or will have in the future.  The court reserves the right to make decisions about parenting time and the financial support of children based on the children’s best interests.

Contact Our Tampa Family Lawyers at Bubley & Bubley

A family law attorney can help you draft a prenuptial agreement that reflects your true wishes and is free of legal loopholes.  Contact Bubley & Bubley in Tampa, Florida to discuss your case.