Why Prenups Can Benefit Both Parties

Most people are familiar with prenuptial agreements through the way that journalistic coverage of celebrity relationships tends to emphasize them, but they are actually relatively simple instruments that most couples could benefit from making use of before getting married. While common perceptions of them tend to revolve around the idea of keeping certain assets from a spouse if one gets divorced, the reality is that a prenuptial agreement exists more to define clearly the lines between “yours, mine, and ours” before a relationship starts, and that makes it easier for both parties to feel secure about their property in the event that the relationship ends.

A Record of Assets 

The most basic thing that a prenuptial accomplishes is the production of a written record of what each party brings to a marriage at the beginning. This is important because after years and years of marriage, assets tend to become so intermingled that tracing back exactly what belonged to whom at the beginning becomes an impossible task. For the partner entering into the marriage with more assets, it is obviously beneficial to have a full record of the assets they came in with in the event of a divorce. For the party with fewer assets, though, it still provides shelter and assistance because it allows them to more clearly establish exactly which assets were the product of the marriage, a fact which can easily be obfuscated during divorce proceedings without one.

Death Benefits 

Leaving one’s spouse out of a will is looked upon unfavorably by the courts, who often rewrite or invalidate wills that fail to provide at least a certain percentage of the estate to spouses. For second marriages and other situations where the estate’s heirs may not necessarily include the spouse, prenuptial agreements establish that not only was the intent clear in the will and well supported, but that it is also no surprise to either party. This helps to make wills with unconventional spousal arrangements more enforceable under all kinds of situations.

This is important because for marriages that involve bringing together two parties with significant assets, protecting and providing for your families outside of the marriage is often a priority, and it is one that tends to get lost in the shuffle of traditional court proceedings. This is especially so when the member of the couple with fewer assets passes away, as the court’s natural preference will be to award the estate to the spouse if it does not know better.

Financial Protection 

Prenuptial agreements do not need to be about exclusion or separation, either. Forging a prenuptial that protects the partner with fewer assets, or that protects one partner from the outstanding debts incurred by the other before their marriage, is another way that they work to benefit both partners during the dissolution of a marriage. This can be incredibly important when one partner is making a career change or otherwise altering their lifestyle to support the other one, and it also helps to ensure that partners with nearly equivalent wealth do not find themselves burdened by their partner’s old debts.

In the end, prenuptial agreements are much like other legal agreements. They can be used lopsidedly, but their intention is to make an arrangement clear to both parties, to that they both gain the security of knowing exactly what they have agreed to and what they can expect in the event that the marriage ends.