A prenuptial agreement is a legal document that outlines how marital assets will be managed and distributed if a marriage ends in divorce. Because Florida isn’t a community property state, your assets are not as at risk as they would be in community property states. However, that doesn’t mean you don’t need to protect your premarital assets and ensure you are prepared financially should you and your spouse’s union end in divorce. A prenuptial agreement is even more important if you have considerable assets that need protection, like a family business or inherited property.
5 Tips for Asking for a Prenuptial Agreement
Prenuptial agreements are useful legal tools that can help protect marital assets. For couples beginning their marriages with considerable assets, it’s smart financial planning to protect your property from being subjected to divorce property division.
Here are five tips for working with your fiancé to draft a prenup that reflects your needs:
- Give Yourself Time: You can’t rush the process, and if you are worried about bringing up the idea of a prenup, you should start working on one sooner rather than later. You and your fiancé will benefit from the additional time to review the document and make any necessary changes.
- Team Effort: You and your fiancé should work together to create a prenuptial agreement that reflects their interest and planning.
- Set Goals: You wouldn’t be considering a prenuptial agreement if you didn’t need it. Your prenuptial agreement should be fair and concise. Outline the items you need to be shielded, and don’t be tempted to include issues you don’t need.
- Be Honest: If you think you need a prenuptial agreement to protect your assets, don’t be ashamed to ask for what you need. The prenuptial agreement has a negative reputation because protecting your assets early into a message seems self-serving and greedy.
- Explain Yourself: You and your fiancé are planning to marry and work together to protect one another until death do you part. If you need a prenuptial agreement, it’s better for you and your partner if you explain why you need the protections afforded from a prenup.
There are many reasons to create a prenuptial agreement to protect your assets, and while it’s an important financial safety measure, it can also be a divisive one. If your intended spouse feels like it’s unfair or emotionally abusive for you to ask for a prenuptial agreement, then you will want to stop the process and ask very pointed questions to get to the heart of the matter. A prenuptial agreement should never feel like an attack or anything other than a tool to organize and plan for the financial outcomes of an event that may never happen.
Reasonable and Measured Divorce Guidance
You don’t have to dread bringing up the topic of prenuptial agreements with your fiancé. At Mitchell & West, LLC, we have more than a century of combined experience helping clients solve problems and navigate legal issues with ease. Our attorneys can help you and your partner work together to create a mutually beneficial prenuptial agreement. Call us today at (305) 783-3301 to schedule a consultation, or you can use our online contact form to request more information.