What Should a Woman Ask for in a Prenup?

There is no denying that prenups have received more than their fair share of bad press. In fact – in the past – gold digger was a common refrain. The simple truth, however, is that prenuptial agreements – just like marriages – are legal contracts. When you marry, you enter into a legal contract, and if your marriage ends in divorce, you can face unpredictable legal consequences. If you have a valid prenuptial agreement in place, however, it can resolve a range of primary divorce concerns while protecting your financial rights and taking a good deal of guesswork out of the equation.

What Should a Woman Keep in Mind for a Prenup?

Many people believe prenups are like an invitation to divorce or are a means of hedging one’s bets regarding a pending marriage. This, however, couldn’t be further from the truth. Every couple who marries recognizes that divorce is a possibility, but this does not stop them from moving forward with the marriage contract. The fact is that prenuptial agreements are on the rise (according to Business Insider), but divorce rates have declined over the last decade (according to the U.S. Census Bureau). This speaks to the reality that, while a prenuptial agreement can outline how a divorce will be resolved, it in no way increases the chances that the marriage will end in divorce. In fact, a prenup’s ability to remove question marks from the divorce issue can bolster a couple’s commitment to their marriage.

Put Your Emotions Aside

While there is obviously a strong emotional component to your relationship and your marriage, you’ll need to put your emotions aside when you draft your prenup. The best way to throw yourself wholeheartedly into your marriage is by taking care of the drier administrative tasks upfront. It’s true that your prenup will not be the most romantic aspect of your marriage, but a prenup can make a lot of sense. In fact, a prenup can provide you with the peace of mind that you are looking for – and that you need to fully commit to your marriage.

Full Disclosure Is a Must for Both Parties

In order for your prenuptial agreement to be binding, it must be fair, which means that each party must be transparent regarding the amount, character, and value of their assets. Using a prenup as a means of hiding assets is very likely to render it enforceable, which negates the purpose of drafting a prenup in the first place. In order to meet the requirements for full financial disclosure, both sides must share all of the following:  

• All of your assets, including items like family heirlooms and artworks
• All of your debts
• Every source of income

  You aren’t entering into marriage lightly, and the core of every strong relationship is open communication. When it comes to marriage, this includes open communication about your finances. Finances are often cited as the impetus for divorce, so it stands to reason that investing the time and energy necessary to explore each other’s finances prior to marriage can go a long way toward bolstering your marriage.

You’re Going to Need an Experienced Lawyer

A prenuptial contract is a contract that is created in response to another contract (the marriage contract), which makes it exceptionally complicated. This also means that having a practiced divorce attorney with experience crafting binding prenuptial agreements in your corner is paramount. In other words, this is no time to wing it. The enforceability of your prenup can be diminished or erased altogether if the contract isn’t skillfully crafted, and for that, you’re going to need professional legal guidance. Further, it’s important that you and your soon-to-be spouse have your own attorneys (each of whom is focused on protecting his or her client’s best interests and ensuring that the contract is fair from both perspectives). Without this careful attention to fair dealings, your prenup may not be valid.

What a Woman Should Ask for in a Prenup

When it comes to what you seek in your prenup, there are some important basics to consider.

Your Children

If you already have a child or children from another relationship, establishing the inheritance that will flow from you to them is of critical importance. Without a prenuptial agreement, the matter of their inheritance may be out of your control and could fall far short of your wishes. Prenups are that much more important for women who already have children. Beyond the issue of inheritance, there are other important considerations that you should address in your prenup.

Premarital Property and Income

You’ve worked exceptionally hard for the assets you’ve acquired to date, and protecting your independent wealth should be a pillar of your prenuptial agreement. Retaining possession of your own income and property in the event of divorce should be addressed head-on in your agreement, and if you own your own business (or an interest in a business), the matter is that much more urgent – if that business is a family business, the ramifications become even more serious. You don’t have to be wealthy to protect what’s yours – you are coming into your marriage with the assets you’ve amassed (regardless of their value), and retaining ownership of these assets in the event of divorce is a right worth safeguarding.

A List of Premarital Debts

Just as it is critical that you list your assets in your prenuptial agreement, you’ll also need to be forthcoming regarding your debt. Prenuptial agreements generally ensure that premarital debt remains the financial responsibility of the spouse it originally belonged to, but your prenup can also address marital debt. Well-considered prenup clauses can help to ensure that, in the event of divorce, your marital assets will not be used for paying down individual debt incurred as a result of financial waste, such as gambling debt or debt that was irresponsibly run up on credit cards.

Gifts

The matter of the gifts that you receive from your spouse in the course of your marriage also deserves a place in your prenup. As a married couple, it is customary to give each other gifts for anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, or “just because.” Sometimes, these gifts have considerable value (gifts of jewelry, for example), and if they are not specifically included in your prenup, you will likely see the gifts given to you by your spouse valued and lumped in with your marital assets (in the event of divorce) – to be divided between you equally.

Alimony

Traditionally, women are more likely than men to take a break from their careers – or to tone down their careers – to stay home and focus on raising their children while they’re young. This, in turn, can decrease their earning potential and often means that alimony becomes an issue in the event of divorce. This is an excellent reason for including terms related to alimony in your prenuptial agreement. Some couples address the issue by stipulating alimony compensation that is calculated for every year the stay-at-home parent sacrifices their career for the family.

An Agreement that Is Fair to Both Spouses

In order for your prenup to be binding and protect your financial rights, it must be fair to both parties. If you attempt to include elements that grab the court’s attention, it is unlikely to work in your favor. Your prenup should reasonably address protecting your financial rights and should not become a laundry list of everything you want if a divorce does transpire. The issues you can address in your prenup include all the following:  

• The separate nature of your separate assets, including gifts from your spouse
• Specifics regarding the division of your marital assets
• A requirement that one or both of you maintain life insurance on yourself
• The matter of alimony (including amount and duration)
• Your children’s rights to inheritance

  While your prenuptial agreement can address matters related to child custody and child support, these terms – if either is included and is ultimately contested – will not hold. The court will address the matter of your child custody arrangements in accordance with the best interests of your children at the time and will calculate child support according to the state’s methodology – without referral to the applicable terms in your prenuptial agreement.

Reach Out for the Seasoned Legal Guidance of an Experienced Yakima Divorce Attorney Today

A prenuptial agreement provides you with the opportunity to guide the terms of a divorce prior to your marriage, which can – in the end – strengthen your relationship. Crafting a binding prenup that protects your rights, however, is a considerable legal challenge that the formidable divorce attorneys at Dobbs & Young in Yakima, Washington, are well prepared to tackle. Your financial rights are too important to leave to chance, so please don’t wait to reach out and contact or call us at 509-577-9177 for more information about what we can do to help you today.