Yes, you should. According the theknot.com the three most popular days to get engaged are Christmas Day, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. The ‘proposal season’ as defined by theknot.com is from November to February. Whether it’s the holiday spirit that moves people to get engaged or something else, the time is now.
The big question is, should we have a prenuptial agreement or ‘pre-nup’ in place before the big day? The reality is that some 50% of first marriages end in divorce and 67% of second marriages end in divorce. Anecdotally, all divorces start with marriage.
I haven’t met when person, client or otherwise, who intended to get divorce on their wedding day. You plan for the wedding, you plan for retirement, you have insurance in case of an accident. Why not plan for the retention of assets and a smooth (or smoother than litigation) divorce process?
A prenuptial agreement is a legal agreement entered into before marriage, addresses how you and your partner will handle the division of assets upon a divorce or death of one of the parties. It is a critical piece in any person’s financial and estate plan.
There is no general rule as to who should have a pre-nup. However, a pre-nup is highly recommended for anyone that has separate assets (house, 401K, a business) heading into a marriage. A pre-nup is a hedge against a costly divorce, in terms of legal fees and in terms of loss of assets. If you missed the boat and got married without one, you can always do a post-nup.
At SDM Law Group, we can draft the prenuptial agreement as well as postnuptial agreements.
