Postnuptial agreements serve an important purpose these days

Many people know that prenuptial agreements are one possible way that a person can protect his or her assets in case their upcoming marriage ends up ending. What many people don’t realize is that some of the same protections are available to people who are already married through a postnuptial agreement.

A postnuptial agreement is similar to a prenuptial agreement in that it lays out what is going to happen if there is a divorce. The difference is that the postnuptial agreement is made after the couple is married.

Almost all postnuptial agreements cover property division. Many of them cover alimony payments. A smaller number cover retirement accounts, who will remain in the marital home and what happens if a spouse has an affair.

Postnuptial agreements haven’t been around as long as prenuptial agreements, but they are starting to become more commonplace. Couples are starting to notice that they can enjoy very real protections in these documents.

Of course, there are some limitations to postnuptial agreements. These agreements can’t be used to dictate matters regarding child support. They can’t skew considerably to only one party. They must have all of the necessary points to make it legally enforceable.

If you are in a marriage and think that you can benefit from a postnuptial agreement, you need to take the time to learn more about these documents. Think carefully about what your goals are so that you can see if you can work out an agreement that will help you to meet those goals. Once you know what you want included in the agreement, find out what you need to do to ensure it is legally enforceable.

Source: Bloomberg, “Why More Couples Are Signing Postnuptial Agreements,” Ben Steverman, April 28, 2017