Types of Family Law Cases We Handle
Focus on helping people in Miami and other Florida areas draft marital agreements that protect their assets and secure their future with confidence and care.
If you’re planning to marry soon, you’re likely not thinking about what will happen if the marriage fails. Unfortunately, failing to plan for unanticipated life events can result in negative consequences, including a drawn-out legal battle and the loss of assets that are important to you. A Miami prenup lawyer can help you protect your assets and yourself
What Is a Prenup?
A prenuptial agreement — commonly referred to as a prenup — is a contractual agreement that two people enter before getting married. A prenup generally includes the assets each of them owns and also contains specifics on the assets each individual will receive if the marriage fails.
The Types of Considerations Included in Prenups
There are several questions that can be answered through a prenup, such as:
- What assets does each party have, and how will those assets be treated in the marriage? Will they remain the possession of one party or be jointly owned?
- What debts does each party have? Will those debts remain with the party who originated them, or will both parties be responsible?
- What assets does one party intend to leave to children from a previous relationship? How should their inheritance be handled? Will the parties waive their inheritance rights from each other?
- Who is responsible for paying bills and filing tax returns in the marriage? How will savings accounts, credit cards, and investments be handled?
- Who is planning to earn the household income? Will one parent stay home and provide care for the children?
- How will assets and marital property be divided in a divorce?
It is important that the prenup is drawn up clearly and understandably and is thorough in the topics the agreement covers.
Modifying a Prenup
Just as divorce is often an unanticipated event in life, other unexpected events — such as an increase or decrease in wealth, the birth of a child, or a child with special needs — can make the prenup seem out-of-date after years have passed.
Prenups can be modified at any time during the marriage, provided both parties agree to the modifications through what is referred to as an amendment. An amendment is a page legally added to the original agreement that explains the new changes and can override parts of the original agreement.
How a Miami Prenup Lawyer Can Help
One of the most important aspects of a prenup agreement is to avoid a contentious legal battle if the marriage should end and to have a say on how assets will be distributed. Unfortunately, the preparation of many couples goes to waste when a divorce occurs and it is discovered that the prenup is not legally valid. A Miami prenup lawyer can help individuals who are planning to marry to have the candid conversations necessary to create an agreement that is specific and enforceable.
A prenup attorney can also assist couples who failed to draft an agreement before marriage to create other types of marital agreements — such as a postnuptial agreement — that can resolve the same type of matters as the prenup. If both parties determine that it is time to amend the prenup provisions, or one party wants out of the prenup while the other doesn’t, a lawyer can also assist with those matters.
