Reviewing Your Options Regarding Pre- And Postnuptial Agreements

If you are recently engaged or married, congratulations! This is an exciting time in your life, and you have much to look forward to in the years ahead. Marriage is a source of great joy and strength, but it’s important to remember that marriage — like life — also comes with difficult decisions and disagreements. Communicating clearly and often is the best way to work through those disagreements.

As you prepare to build a life together with your spouse, it can be helpful to lay out your expectations clearly to avoid unwanted surprises down the road. By creating a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement with the help of an experienced lawyer, you will have a precise set of principles that you can use to help resolve future disagreements. This formal agreement is also a way to protect each spouse and his or her separate financial life in the unfortunate event of divorce.

At Hope Family Law P.C., I will help you identify the most critical issues to address in a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, to create the most useful and thorough document possible for your needs.

Lay Out Clear Expectations For Your Marriage

A prenuptial agreement and a postnuptial agreement are functionally the same things — the only difference is that a prenuptial agreement is created before you are legally married. A postnuptial agreement is created after you are married. These agreements are sometimes called “premarital agreements” and “postmarital agreements,” respectively.

Once it’s clear that you and your partner are planning to formally join your lives through marriage, it is never too early to start thinking about a prenuptial agreement — the sooner each partner can spell out their long-term needs and expectations, the better. Likewise, it is never too late to create a postnuptial agreement. Whether you’ve been married for 15 weeks or 15 years, it is always worthwhile to think about the future and talk about that future with your spouse.

Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements can be valuable tools for enumerating a couple’s separate property, community property and spousal maintenance. Should a divorce later arise, the process is significantly simpler because you will have already reached an agreement on many important issues. Although it is important for each party to retain separate legal representation, I assist my clients with negotiating and drafting these agreements with the goal of preventing further disputes.

Experienced Advice From A Certified Family Law Specialist

Your family law matter is in good hands when you work with Hope Family Law P.C., providing you hope while assisting you in resolving your current legal matter.

Learn more at an initial consultation in my Dallas, Texas, office with an attorney with over 25 years of experience. Just call 972-521-1961, or contact me online.