Protect your marriage with a well-crafted prenuptial agreement

The greater one or both partner’s assets are within a marriage, the more likely conflict is to brew, sooner or later. While money is certainly not the root of all evil, it does have a way of presenting conflicts in relationships, especially if spouses come from different economic backgrounds.

If you hope to have a successful marriage and also have significant resources, one of the greatest protections you can offer your relationship is work through creating a careful and thorough prenuptial agreement.

No matter what your expectations of marriage may be, you certainly don’t want to enter into it with a handicap. Rest assured, beginning your life with a partner before the two of you truly understand and appreciate the other’s perspective on finances and assets is a serious relationship handicap.

It’s no secret that more than half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce, and disagreements about money are one the leading motivations for divorces across all demographics.

Protect your partner as you work to understand them

Prenuptial agreements are not only about protecting yourself or building a trapdoor into your relationship in case things get difficult. Instead, they offer a unique opportunity for you and your spouse-to-be to get to know each other on a level that neither of you might get to otherwise.

In order to form a truly effective prenuptial agreement, both partners must engage in the process and disclose the full scope of their respective financial lives. This process regularly helps couples identify areas of potential conflict before they can arise in the course of the marriage.

Also, prenuptial agreements offer opportunities to protect your partner even if you never face divorce. An experienced attorney can help you use a prenuptial agreement to shield your spouse from your personal liabilities so that any creditors who may pursue you for debt repayment cannot also pursue your spouse’s property.

Furthermore, the agreement can serve as an opportunity for both you and your spouse to express clearly, in a neutral environment, your respective expectations of each other within the marriage. Your relationship is your own, and should remain that way. Prenuptial agreements can help keep outside pressures at bay so that you and the person you love can focus on what really matters — each other.

Don’t wait to built the right agreement for your relationship

There are numerous reasons a judge may invalidate a prenuptial agreement, from incomplete disclosures to unethical or illegal clauses, to simply waiting too long to author and sign the agreement itself.

In order for your agreement to truly protect the marriage, you should both engage in the process with the guidance of an experienced attorney who can help ensure that both parties’ interests and rights remain protected.