Essential items to include in a premarital agreement

Premarital agreements are excellent tools to help you and your future spouse protect yourselves. There are several different items that you can include in these agreements, including information on your work, family property, separate property and marital responsibilities.

Premarital agreements are great because they give you an opportunity to discuss different topics before you get married and to put certain agreements into legally binding documents. These can protect you if you ever end up getting a divorce.

What should you include in a prenuptial agreement?

A few of the common items to include in a prenuptial agreement include:

• Information on family property and what will or will not be divided if you get a divorce later.
• Information on premarital assets and debts.
• Details about marital responsibilities and your expectations.
• Work, and what you will do if you want to become a stay-at-home parent or if your job tries to transfer you out of state.
• Property division information in the case of divorce.

While your prenuptial agreement can’t discuss everything, it can go over a few big topics that you want to keep in mind.

Is there anything that would make your premarital agreement invalid?

Yes. If the agreement is extremely one-sided or you include agreements on topics that aren’t allowed, like child custody arrangements, then the court may invalidate a portion or all of your prenuptial agreement.

That’s why it is very important for you to talk to your attorney and to make sure the agreement that you draw up or have presented to you is fair and equitable. You want to know that the contents are allowed to be in the agreement to begin with and that the contents are fair to you and your spouse.

What if you don’t agree with the prenuptial agreement?

If you don’t agree, there is a time to negotiate. Talking about the agreement before marriage gives you time to work out what you expect and are happy with in an agreement. This kind of arrangement can be good for both of you, so take the time to think about your wishes for now and the future.