Congratulations, you are engaged! When you are planning on getting married, a prenuptial agreement can be a good thing to consider in your wedding preparations. In order for a prenuptial agreement to be valid and enforceable, a prenup must: be completed before marriage, be written, be notarized, be entered into voluntarily by both parties, have complete financial disclosure, be fair to both parties, and not be illegal or opposed to public policy.

A common misconception about prenuptial agreements is that they are only for the wealthy. That is not true. Prenuptial agreements can benefit couples from all walks of life. Prenuptial agreements are documents that protect the separate assets of the people who are intending to get married. The Process of creating the documents is something of a personal audit and provides a good opportunity for you and your spouse to have an open discussion about money management. This is also a good time to check on beneficiaries of your accounts and make sure they reflect who you would like to receive them in the event of your death.

They outline what the married couple wants to do in the case of separation and dissolution. Even though people don’t want to consider the outcome of divorce, about half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce. Some of the things that a prenuptial agreement does is outlining the financial responsibilities of each party if there is a divorce. This can save time in a divorce proceeding because then the sides don’t have to spend time litigating who is responsible for which debt. So in the case of a divorce without a prenup, there would be an equitable division of assets. However, with a prenup, you can divide the assets up how you want. This will make for a more straightforward (and hopefully cheaper) divorce proceeding.

The document is legally binding and signed before marriage. Ideally, you would have a prenuptial agreement drafted and signed at least 30 days before the date of marriage, and you should begin negotiating at least three months before the date of marriage. The courts think that this is enough time to suggest that you reviewed what you were signing and that you didn’t sign it under duress. Finally, a prenuptial agreement will say who gets what in the divorce. If you decide to get a prenuptial agreement, you will need to get it made in advance. Both parties must have time to review the prenuptial agreement with independent counsel. This is so the court knows that the parties were not coerced into signing an agreement that might be unfavorable.

The main things that a prenuptial agreement does is keep assets separate from the martial assets. Washington is a community property state, and ordinarily, the community property assets would be divided up equitably. A prenuptial agreement would keep the assets you wanted separate from the marital community. It would be wise to do this if you wanted to keep some financial independence from your spouse. Some people keep all of their finances separate and split all of the household bills, while never comingling bank accounts. Also, a prenuptial agreement can say if inherited property is going to be separate property or not.

It can also outline who is responsible for which debts. It is important for both parties to be forthcoming when drafting a prenuptial agreement, because an omission can render the prenuptial agreement invalid.

It is worth noting that a prenuptial agreement cannot include child custody or child support, because it is against public policy. States think that children’s welfare is a matter for the courts to decide because it is a matter of public policy.

If you have questions about whether a prenuptial agreement is right for you, call us at (360) 685-0145 or use the “Ask an Attorney” link on our website to contact us today!

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