Marriage converts your friendship with your partner into a relationship with financial benefits and obligations. Pre- and post-nuptial agreements let you address those arrangements up front.
I’m a fan of Laurie Israel’s approach in her book, The Marriage Friendly PreNup: How to Create a Thoughtful And Caring Prenuptial Agreement. I will work with you and your spouse-to-be, in Mediation or in a Collaborative process, to create a pre-nup or post-nup that will create and preserve a healthy marriage.
What if you could start your marriage with the peace of mind knowing that you have clear and manageable expectations? That’s the purpose of a pre- or post-nuptial agreement. They provide guidelines for marriage so that both people can build, share and preserve income and wealth as they wish, according to a structure and rules.
The basic concept of these agreements are simple: They divide income and assets, debt and expenses, into three groups: Yours, Mine, and Ours. They can be as simple, as in when you agree that each person has sole ownership of certain bank accounts, inheritance, or assets; or much more detailed.
Pre-nups were used by the wealthy classes to create strategic and powerful unions. Think of royal marriages. Today, it’s a smart and healthy approach for practically any marriage.
To be enforceable, each spouse needs their own attorney to review it. When these attorneys work with transparency and directness, everyone gains peace of mind. If a marriage must end, there’s a clear “exit strategy.” Thousands of dollars can be saved when the pre-nup includes a blueprint for divorce, in the event it has to happen.
