WHEN YOU ARE ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED, ENGAGE US AS WELL
Engaged couples spend copious amounts of time planning for the day of their wedding. Tens of thousands are spent of flowers, venue, caterers, dress, and rings. However, after the big day, not a lot of thought is put into what happens if the relationship does not work out. Less than 10% of marrying couples obtain marriage agreements with their spouse prior to being married. These agreements are becoming more common and particularly amongst partners meeting at a later stage in life with assets already in place as well as growing or adult children.
Marriage agreements (widely referred to as prenuptial agreements because they are often before as opposed to after marriage) have several rules that need to be followed in order to hold water over time. With so much at stake down the road, like children, houses, pets, and money, marrying couples might wish to explore the legal protections offered from a prenuptial agreement.
WHAT ARE PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENTS
“Prenuptial Agreements” are contracts entered into by couples who intend to marry so that in the unfortunate event that a marriage comes to an end, the couple will know beforehand what will happen in terms of their pre and post marital wealth division, financial support for each other and any children, and generally how the couple will interact with one another going forward. Prenuptial agreements are used by marrying or married couples as opposed to common law couples or other arrangements whose equivalent to a prenuptial agreement is a cohabitation agreement. Please click the link to the right to learn more about cohabitation agreements.
WHO SHOULD GET A PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT?
Although the idea of discussing the possibility of a relationship breakdown at the earlier stages of a couple’s relationship seems highly unromantic, people who are able to maturely discuss their finances often end up being well served by knowing what the future holds if a relationship breaks down. Prenups can be used in a variety of creative ways such as giving a spouse a greater entitlement the longer the relationship endures, or to restrict access to legacy wealth, such as a company in which one member of the couple has shares in his or her extended family’s company.
HOW CAN I GET A MARITAL (PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT)?
Prenuptial agreements are not one size fits all. Care must be taken to ensure a marital agreement is well written and balanced. There are important considerations when undertaking the drafting of a marital agreement and one of the key considerations between the parties is full, frank and total disclosure of all assets, the lack of duress and obtaining independent legal advice. These steps, when combined with a skillfully drafted agreement, can be used to avoid an agreement to come back and bite you years later.
Open Door Law’s family practice routinely assists clients in going over the law of marital agreements by way of a consultations, drafting of agreements or sometimes even simply as advisors of independent legal advice of an already drafted agreement, which is an important consideration in all family law agreements. Please feel free to book a consultation with us if you are thinking about drafting a marital agreement and we would be happy to go over the details with you.
Can we help you prepare a Marriage Agreement?
Contact our office for more information or fill out our General Consultation Intake Form to get started.