A good prenuptial agreement begins marriage on strong footing

Prenuptial agreements have always been a helpful way for couples to create boundaries around their relationship to protect each other, but for many years, public opinion of the agreements was often unfavorable.

Now, finally, it seems that the wisdom of a caring, generous prenuptial agreement is finally getting the recognition it deserves. In the last decade alone, thousands of younger couples across the country and here in California chose to create prenuptial agreements as they entered into marriage. Thankfully, tide of public opinion about prenuptial agreements is turning.

The truth of the matter is that a good prenuptial agreement is not just a fast-tracked divorce. There are a number of protections that a prenuptial agreement can offer spouses even if they never divorce — protections that can strengthen the marriage from the day it begins.

Protect the one you love with proper preparation

The benefits of preparing a prenuptial agreement with your spouse-to-be begin before you even finalize the documents. Among the other, more practical advantages it offers, creating a prenuptial agreement grants couples the ability to work through many issues of marriage that a counselor may never mention.

Each person comes to a marriage with different expectations. Furthermore, communicating these expectations to your partner and truly understanding his or her own is very difficult without a good structure for exploring each other’s expectations, hopes and fears.

As you and your partner walk through creating your prenuptial agreement, you will learn a great deal about each other and yourself, potentially saving your from painful confrontations later on. Because these agreements deal with every aspect of your assets, you get to know the person you love in an entirely different way.

Many conflicts in marriage center around finances, so the more that you and your partner understand about each other’s financial perspective and prepare your agreement accordingly, the more you can protect your marriage from these conflicts before they begin.

Create an agreement that protects your partner

Prenuptial agreements are an excellent way to express that you truly value your partner more than your rights to some piece of property. When you craft a prenuptial agreement, you have a great opportunity to ease partners’ fears about the future of their business, intellectual property they may own or create, or some other asset they may find stress-inducing.

Furthermore, a prenuptial agreement can begin protecting one spouse from another spouse’s debt obligations during a marriage, not only during a divorce. Debt is generally considered marital property, and unless you take measures to prevent this, your partner could be liable for your debt. Practically speaking, this means that creditors could seek to take your partner’s marital property. With a prenuptial agreement that separates debt from your marital assets, your partner and his or her assets are not jeopardized when you marry.

These are only some of the many ways that a strong, well-crafted prenuptial agreement can strengthen your marriage for many years to come.

Strong legal guidance helps you protect your partner

With a wedding on the horizon, there is no reason to wait to create the right prenuptial agreement for your marriage. With proper guidance by an experienced attorney, you can rest assured that you and your spouse have all the tools you need to protect each other and your marriage as you move into this exciting new chapter together.

Source: Nov. 30, -0001