When you and your spouse decide to get married, no one intends to have anything tear you apart. However, in the grand scheme of life, many unforeseen issues arise during marriages. No one knows what their life will look like decades into the future. Unfortunately, if not appropriately handled, marital issues can have the power to tear your marriage apart.
Luckily, there is a solution to help solidify and even save your marriage: marital contracts. Marital contracts refer to various agreements that you and your spouse enter. These can cover things like cohabitation, asset division, and more. Even though marital contracts are recommended before you say “I do,” you can have one produced at any time during your marriage.
Many people think marital contracts are only for the super-wealthy and those who have had many prior marriages. However, marital contracts are actually perfect for saving your marriage. This post dives into what marital contracts are, when they can be signed, and how they can save a marriage.
Broadly, a marital contract refers to any agreement that you and your spouse come to surrounding your marriage. These contracts can come in many forms, including cohabitation agreements, prenuptial agreements, and more. Most often, these agreements revolve around who will get what if that marriage is to end.
Marriage contracts help foster clear communication in a marriage, even if nothing ever comes up to tear your marriage apart.
Marital contracts are an excellent option for preserving your marriage because they can be signed before and during your marriage to your spouse.
Premarital or prenuptial agreements are agreements made between spouses that will become effective once marriage occurs. Both parties must sign these. Generally, prenuptial agreements cover things like property rights and obligations. Prenup agreements usually seek to protect what will happen to these assets if separation, death, or divorce occurs. In addition, premarital agreements can include provisions for making wills, trusts, or other arrangements. Basically, pretty much anything that a couple could conceivably fight about during a marriage can be pre-decided in a prenuptial agreement. Even deciding whom the pets will go to in a cohabitation agreement if a separation occurs can be determined.
A postnuptial agreement can be signed after you and your spouse is already married. These contracts are used to either establish agreements or change those initially established under a prenuptial agreement.
