Should I Have A Prenuptial
Agreement
Before We Get Married
Well, that’s a good question! Only you
can decide whether or not this will work for your particular
circumstances.
Robert is engaged to Janet. They’re planning on getting married
in a few months. Janet has several pieces of property, numerous
investment accounts and is worth millions of dollars. She’s
been dating Robert for almost five years prior to his proposal
of marriage. She’s decided that she wants a prenuptial
agreement prior to marrying Robert, but, is unsure how to tell
him. Janet doesn’t want to hurt Robert’s feelings, but she
knows that she should protect herself prior to marriage.
Ginger and William are getting married early next year. They’ve
been dating for six months. William owns several businesses,
properties and other investments. His net worth is two billion
dollars. He loves Ginger with all his heart and trusts her.
William has told his attorney to start working on preparing a
prenuptial agreement for him and Ginger. He has been trying to
figure out how he’s going to tell Ginger about the prenup
without upsetting her.
You say that you have assets such as property, retirement
,savings, and other investments that you would like to protect.
You don’t want your assets to be part of the marital pie. You
trust your future spouse but still want to protect the assets
your have acquired before the marriage. You’re just not sure
how to discuss this subject with your future spouse without
possibly offending them. Here are five tips on what you may
want to tell your future spouse:
1. Your accountant is recommending
that you keep your assets before the marriage separate.
Blame it on your accountant!
2. If you have children from a prior relationship, you may
want your children to have the assets you acquired before
the marriage.
3. You just want to protect your assets prior to the
marriage in case of future problems with the marriage.
4. Your assets before the marriage may be for a relative or
beneficiary that you want to benefit from your assets.
5. You simply want the both of you to start fresh and
develop your assets together as a newly married
couple.
Don’t let the issue of a prenuptial agreement be a deflator
to your relationship and create a level of distrust. Explain in
detail to your future spouse the reason you would like a
prenuptial agreement and everything between the two of you will
probably work out in the end just fine.
If you decide that you want a prenuptial agreement with your
future spouse, make sure you ease into discussing this subject.
You know your future spouse’s feelings and emotions better than
anyone else! You may even suggest that you both have a
prenuptial agreement.
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