Does love conquer all?
First, what is prenuptial agreement or a prenup?
Should you sign a prenuptial agreement or in short, prenup? To answer this question, one must know what prenuptial agreement is. Prenuptial agreement, also called “premarital agreement” in Florida, is a contract between prospective spouses that determine how certain issues such as alimony and property division are treated during a divorce. The agreement is essentially a trade of the act of marriage for certain financial terms in the contract.
What are the pros and cons of prenuptial agreement?
Pro: Prenup can actually be a wise investment, not only because it outlines a couple’s finances, but because it can thwart a costly and contentious divorce if the marriage doesn’t work out. Cons: The agreement may require you to give up your right to spousal support, retirement benefit and inheritance benefit which the law otherwise gives to you. For instance, under the law, you are entitled to 30% of the estate even if your spouse does not include such a provision in his or her will unless you expressly waive it. Another example is that no spouse can give homestead in a will or nobody can take away the house without your consent even if you do not own the property. But you may be required to waive the right partly or wholly.
Can prenuptial agreements always hold up in court?
Not really. Full Financial Disclosure. In representing the party seeking to enforce the PA, the practitioner must make sure the client is fully and frankly disclosing to the other party his or her net worth (all assets and liabilities and the values and amounts thereof) and income.5 Too often just assets, and perhaps liabilities, are disclosed. Florida law requires disclosure of income as well.6 Do not rely on income tax returns alone since they do not reflect any nontaxable income. The financial disclosure should be appended to the PA and initialed by the parties so as to prevent or minimize a later claim of nondisclosure.
While the disclosure must be full and frank, it need not necessarily be minutely detailed or exact as to values and amounts. Reasonable approximations “close to” the actual values and amounts may suffice.
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