Residents of Alexandria City, Virginia may know prenuptial agreements are a popular choice for protecting personal assets. Many people prefer to have prenuptial agreements in place before marriage, especially if high assets are involved and if a divorce could impact third parties and business associates.
Some recent divorce cases involving high assets have attracted a lot of media discussions on prenuptial agreements, or the lack thereof. Some of the cases discussed in media regarding prenuptial agreements include the divorce cases of oil tycoon Harold Hamm, Paul McCartney, Tiger Woods and Kim Kardashian. Reports stated that while the former two did not have prenuptial agreements, the latter two had prenuptial agreements in place.
While many people are still not comfortable with prenuptial agreements before the start of a marriage, the increasing rate of divorce and its potential financial impact on a spouse having assets works in its favor. However, not all prenuptial agreements are enforceable, as many fail to address legal and financial issues per the laws of the state.
A person trying to obtain a prenuptial agreement must address certain legal issues associated with prenuptial agreements. Among them are to ensure that all the statutes governing prenuptial agreements in a person's state of residency is followed and that his or her agreement addresses all the issues of separate and marital property, as per the legal provisions of the state, whether it is a community property state or non-community property state.
If taxation and estate planning issues are involved in a prenuptial agreement, it may be wise to get it reviewed by taxation and estate planning experts before signing. While preparing a prenuptial agreement, a person should also think about issues such as domestic violence, a criminal conviction, the birth of children or other factors that can have a possible impact on the agreement and should take appropriate measures accordingly.
Source: Huffington Post, "Common Prenuptial Agreement Legal Issues," Brad Reid, Feb. 19, 2015
No Comments
Leave a comment