When you get married, you should be prepared to spend the rest of your life with the one you love. Weddings are a once-in-a-lifetime fancy event that you won’t ever forget. However, trudging the path to married life is another story. It is a journey full of ups and downs, with sweet moments and frustrating disagreements. These are a normal part of married life, and it should help in strengthening the couple’s bond as husband and wife.
However, not all marriages end up in happily ever after. In fact, a lot of couples end up hiring divorce lawyers to end their marriage for good. Both of you have to consult family lawyers to settle everything before you split for good. This includes child custody and support, property division, and alimony.
You cannot predict the future
Anything can happen in your marriage. It can be an uncertain future ahead and there will be hurdles along the way as a married couple. Feelings might change and hurtful words will be thrown into each other at some point. Sadly, such situations can lead to a messy divorce.
All of your dreams, your investments, everything you share have to be divided – even your children. In such cases, you would have to call child support lawyers to settle everything for your child’s welfare. However, you can expect it to be a long and tedious process to walk through.
Having said that, divorce can be the last thing that most couples want to happen, yet it still does. As mentioned, it can be a long and tedious process before you are able to walk free from each other. Although it can be awkward to discuss these matters as early as now, it is best to consider your options in case something does change along the course of your married life.
Put it on paper
Enter the prenuptial agreement. It is a legal form that should be agreed upon between both spouses in case the marriage does not end happily. It is said that financial issues are one of the leading causes of divorce. This is one major purpose of a prenuptial agreement: to settle your finances properly and to avoid disagreements related to it that can lead to divorce.
Aside from finances, a prenuptial agreement can also cover other interests including asset division and alimony. This can be a useful document that will determine which goes to whom in case a divorce is an inevitable sight.
It’s not that both of you are looking forward to a divorce that is why you have to have a prenup. Rather, it’s a wise decision you can ever make as a couple because, as mentioned earlier, it can be an uncertain future ahead. You should sit and talk about it with your spouse, or consult spousal support lawyers for further clarifications.
Prenup vs. Postnup
And then there’s the post-nuptial agreement. On one hand, a prenup is done before entering the marriage. Meanwhile, the latter is done during a marriage or during the time when your marriage is on the verge of breaking down. Nonetheless, these documents can play an important role in your marriage.
For one, it can protect your assets and properties in case your marriage fails later on. Also, it can help you make sound decisions before or during a divorce. It doesn’t matter when you have created the agreement. Rather, it’s more on addressing key concerns that can affect your decisions in the event of a divorce.
Some covered area of concerns in a prenup or postnup agreement are the following:
- Debt allocation following a divorce
- Alimony payment amount and duration
- Asset division
- Asset distribution in case of death of a spouse
However, a prenup or postnup agreement cannot include child custody and support. This will be decided by the court and should be based on the child’s best interest. In such cases, you should consult child support lawyers to settle this concern.
Moving on
Prenup and postnup agreements may not sound appealing to many people. However, all married and soon-to-be-married couples should have one. Not only can it protect their properties and assets but also their marriage as well. If you have concerns about how to properly draft one, you can consult the best divorce lawyers in Fairfax VA.
