Evidently, a prenuptial agreement is written by you and your spouse before your marriage, while a postnuptial agreement is signed afterward. However, their differences stretch far beyond this. Continue reading to learn how these agreements are different and how an experienced Morristown prenuptial agreement lawyer at Graves Andrews, LLC can help you and your spouse establish one.
What are the similarities between prenuptial and postnuptial agreements?
First, it is important to understand that there a great similarities between prenuptial and postnuptial agreements. That is, in either agreement, you and your spouse may be seeking to attain the following goals:
- You and your spouse may wish to outline how your assets and debts will be divided in the unfortunate event of a divorce (i.e., who gets real estate, inheritances, stakes in a family business, investments, etc).
- You and your spouse may wish to outline how alimony payments will be handled in the unfortunate event of a divorce (i.e., who is the payor, who is the recipient, how much is the payment, etc).
- You and your spouse may wish to outline who gets what financial responsibilities in the marriage (i.e., who will handle investments, tax returns, the household budget, etc).
- You and your spouse may wish to outline how to handle certain final issues that may arise throughout the marriage (i.e., how to allocate funds for your child’s college education, etc).
In addition, both prenuptial and postnuptial agreements must not entail terms and conditions for potential, future child support or child custody arrangements. Rather, the New Jersey family court will be assigned to make a decision that works in the best interest of your child.
How are these agreements different?
Simply put, a prenuptial agreement may hold more benefits for couples in certain scenarios, and vice versa. For example, a prenuptial agreement may work better for you and your spouse if you are entering your marriage with considerable assets (i.e., net income or pending inheritances). What’s more, if you and your spouse have children from previous marriages, this agreement may bar your children’s inheritances from being subject to equitable distribution in a divorce.
On the other hand, a postnuptial agreement may be better if you and your spouse have become high-net-worth individuals since your marriage. Since these earned assets are considered marital property, this agreement may work to specifically address how they are to be split. Or, you and your spouse may have gone through trials and tribulations since your marriage. So you may have a better understanding of exactly what type of insurance you need for your assets than you did before your marriage.
Regardless, there is no time like the present to kickstart your prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. So reach out to a skilled Morristown family law attorney from Graves Andrews, LLC today.
