Does your engaged son or daughter need a prenup?
By DADvocacy™ | October 11, 2023Are you a soon-to-be mother-in-law or father-in-law?
Does your son or daughter need a prenup?
If your child is engaged, you may be concerned about the future of your legacy: you worked hard to ensure an inheritance, a property, and/or a family business to elevate your child’s life, and you don’t want anything lost in a divorce battle.
While your concerns are valid, the engaged couple themselves must decide to pursue a prenup, and they must be willing to disclose all assets and liabilities to each other.
If they are not willing to engage in disclosure, the prenup cannot stand, as each partner must know what marital assets they are giving up through signing the prenup. If one partner feels coerced or pressured into a prenup, the prenup may not be valid, as it is a contract obtained under duress.
If your child and his/her fiancé is willing, each partner can hire an attorney, or the couple can opt for a mediated prenup. The parent(s) of an engaged couple may pay for representation or mediation, but the parent(s) themselves are not the clients: the couple is the client, and the couple’s information remains confidential.
You understand the value of a prenup, but perhaps your child has not considered its protections. Let’s think about ways of introducing the subject to your child.
Address any misconceptions your child has about the impact of marriage and divorce on their finances. What does your child understand and not understand about the consequences of marriage on assets obtained during the marriage? Does your child understand how wealth can be lost in a divorce as a matter of law?
Next, address your child’s understanding of what a prenup is and does. For example, many people think that a prenup *has* to say that there will be no alimony in the event of divorce, but that is not true. The prenup can specify whatever works best for that couple, and what’s more, the couple can later re-execute the contract to suit their goals and lifestyle as they age and change.
Assess if your child believes in stereotypes associated with prenups, such as the view that prenups kill the romance or make divorce more likely. Neither are true, especially as a prenup can alleviate any nagging fears about potential losses if the couple decides someday to part ways. Share resources with your child about what prenups do and don’t do.
Remind your child that there has been a cultural shift in attitudes towards prenups. More and more people see a prenup much like they see a will – both documents offer financial protection. For many young people carrying debt, the prenup is a way of protecting each partner from the other’s debts – yet another advantage.No longer the tool of only the wealthy, prenups are a financial and estate planning device for any level of income, and they are insurance against lengthy, costly divorce litigation.
Please contact us to schedule a free Zoom consultation regarding prenup drafting to the parents of engaged couples as well as to any couple seeking mediation or representation in the drafting or the review of a prenup (or postnup).
Contact DADvocacy™ to talk about your goals through a free Zoom consultation.
Remember that the DADvocacy™ Law Firm offers resources to you – for free – in our DIY Toolshed. While such resources can never substitute for the services of a licensed attorney, they can help you to familiarize yourself with the legal process.
Warning: All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or any mediator-client relationship between the reader and the DADvocacy™ Law Firm.
