Admittedly, Prenuptial Agreements are not romantic. They aren’t what you want to be thinking about when you are excited about planning a wedding. However, they are not all about divorce like most people think they are. It is true that you can specify how money and debt will be divided in the event of a divorce. You can even specify how your children will receive their inheritance if you are divorced.
Here are three things to include in a Prenuptial Agreement that are not about divorce:
- Investments: a prenup can set expectations about how assets will be saved and invested throughout the course of the marriage. For example, you can include that both spouses will contribute a specified percentage of their income to a joint retirement plan.
- Debt: Most of the time, people are entering into marriage with some amount of debt, whether it be student loans, credit cards, or car payments. A prenup can clarify who is responsible for what debt.
- Responsibilities: You can write out financial roles and responsibilities for each spouse during the marriage. This can be responsibilities such as who will file taxes, pay the bills, work, and manage the finances.
Finances are a common cause for divorce and laying out the financial landscape of your relationship ahead of time may save you from arguments and problems in the future. In fact, here is an article in Business Insider about why issues with finances often lead to divorce. So, if you can use a simple document at the start of your marriage to help it last longer, maybe a prenup is romantic in its own way!
Bonus: You can have a “sunset clause”. This will void the prenuptial agreement if the marriage lasts a certain amount of time. This can be for any amount of time that you choose.
If you would like to learn more about things to include in a prenuptial agreement, contact Marlene here!