Is It Time to Update Your Prenuptial Agreement?

 Posted on August 29, 2019 in Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements

A prenuptial agreement is a useful document to have in the unfortunate event that you ever decide to divorce. With all of the turmoil in a divorce, it can be a relief to have some of the negotiation work already complete. However, a prenup should not be a static agreement that you do not examine unless a divorce occurs. Your financial means and needs have changed since your marriage began. At worst, you may discover that your agreement is obsolete once it comes time to use it. You should periodically check your prenuptial agreement during your marriage and update it if necessary.

Division of Property

A prenuptial agreement can list which items will be included in your division of marital property and who will receive them. Many of the properties listed in your original prenuptial agreement are nonmarital properties because you owned them before your marriage. When modifying your agreement you can:

• Add major properties that you have accumulated since the start of your marriage;
• Remove properties that you no longer own; and
• Update the value of the properties that were already in the agreement.

For instance, it is common for a spouse’s business to increase in value since the time when they created the agreement. The division of property in the agreement may now be unbalanced because of that change in value. The spouses can renegotiate whether they will share ownership of the business if they divorce or agree to give the other spouse more properties as compensation.

Spousal Maintenance

A prenuptial agreement can determine whether spousal maintenance will be paid and, if so, the value and duration of the payments. However, it is likely that several things have changed since you created the agreement:

• You and your spouse may have different income levels;
• Your standard of living has likely increased; and
• The alimony tax deduction no longer exists.

The payments you agreed to may no longer be appropriate if you now have equal incomes or the payor is making less money than the recipient. The payments may be too low if you are accustomed to a more expensive lifestyle. Without the tax deduction, the payor will not have the tax savings they expected when they decided on the payments.

Contact a St. Charles Family Law Attorney

Your biggest change since you married might be that you have children, but prenuptial agreements are prohibited from including decisions on child support and the allocation of parental responsibilities. In other matters, it would be wise to consider updating your agreement. A Kane County family law lawyer at Goostree Law Group can revise your prenuptial agreement or create a new postnuptial agreement. To schedule a free consultation, call 630-584-4800.

Source:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/09/the-american-greed-report-heres-how-to-bulletproof-your-prenuptial-agreement.html