You’re getting married to the love of your life. She is your everything. You can’t wait to spend the rest of your life with her. But you are realistic. You know that majority of marriages these days end in divorce. And the last thing you need is losing everything you own in a nasty divorce. How can you protect yourself and your assets?
Everyone has heard of a prenuptial agreement and the benefits/downfalls of having one. But how do you know if one is right for you? Well, there’s a couple steps you can take to figure out if you need a prenup agreement. First, you many need an agreement if you or your intended spouse have any of the following:
- You own real estate
- You own more than $50,000 worth of assets that don’t include real estate
- You own a piece of a business
- Your salary is more than $100,000 a year
- You have some valuable employment benefits such as stock options, profit sharing, and more than a year’s worth of retirement benefits
- You or spouse is planning to go back to school for an advanced degree while the other person works
- You want your business or a piece of your business to go to someone other than your spouse when you die
If you meet any of the following criteria, you may want to sit down with your finance and spell out exactly what you want in the agreement such as who holds on to what property, where the assets will go if you die, and whether you will have to pay alimony or waive it if you do get the divorce. If you feel uncomfortable about a creating a prenup, these are still topics you should discuss before marriage.
And if it the marriage does end in divorce, contact us! We’ll help you through the process.