On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in divorce on Tuesday, March 8, 2016.
When two individuals decide to marry, there’s typically a lot of excitement and buzz surrounding wedding and honeymoon planning. Meanwhile, as a couple is focused on registering for china and booking plane tickets, important issues related to each individual’s assets, debts and personal views about money in general may be ignored.
It’s easy to put off these types of conversations. After all, tasting wedding cakes and talking about tropical honeymoon destinations is much more fun. It often, therefore, isn’t until after a couple is married that issues related to money and debt come up and by then each spouse may be in for some unpleasant surprises.
For anyone who is planning to marry, it’s important to be honest and communicate openly with a partner. Failing to bring up the fact that one has $50,000 in student loan debt or a serious gambling problem until after saying I do is almost a guarantee that, rather than love and trust, a marriage will be dominated by deception and conflict. Additionally, couples who wait until after they are married to express their personal views about money and about spending and saving money are also likely to experience their fair share of conflict around these issues.
These types of matters can be further complicated when spouses marry later in life and bring a considerable amount of assets to a marriage and/or when there are children from previous marriages or relationships involved. These are just a few of the reasons why couples who plan to marry are advised to draft and execute a prenuptial agreement prior to walking down the aisle.
In our next blog post, we’ll continue to discuss prenuptial agreements and provide examples of the terms that should and should not be included in a prenup.
Source: FindLaw.com, “Prenuptial Agreements,” March 8, 2016
