When people think of any marriage agreement, it is always the prenuptial agreement. But there is an increasingly popular alternative: the postnuptial agreement. Signed usually during the marriage, postnuptial agreements often come up for a variety of reasons.
If you have no legal agreement when going into your marriage, you might want to get one for yourself. Here are some essential bits of information about postnuptial agreements that you might find useful:
What Postnuptial Agreements Can Do
Experienced divorce lawyers in Townsville and other areas will often ask about any agreement that you signed that involve your marriage. A prenuptial or a postnuptial agreement is what they are usually talking about. The main reason for such agreements is to determine how property is divided when the marriage ends. For example, you can specify particular assets as not marital properties. That means during the divorce, they are not part of the division of assets.
It is not all about divorce either. Your marriage can also end if either your or your partner dies. In this case, the postnuptial agreement can indicate how some assets will pass on. For example, you might want your business to go to your business partner rather than your spouse.
Why Get a Postnuptial Agreement
Some people feel that a postnuptial agreement is only asking for trouble in the future. But it is a good way to protect assets that only come to be during a marriage. For example, your marriage is in its fifth year when one of you suddenly inherits a massive amount of money. This might cause undue strain on your marriage as it changes the power dynamic inside it. A postnuptial agreement can ensure that you and your spouse know who the money belongs to. This can also apply to any business that you set up.
Another reason for a postnuptial agreement is for protection against future misdeeds. For example, a husband develops a gambling addiction. When the wife finds out, she might want a postnuptial agreement that ensures that her assets would not be touched in any future divorce proceedings. This might even be part of her conditions in staying in the marriage.
What You Need to Know Before Signing
When you are presented with any postnuptial agreement, you need to sit down and read it carefully. You also need to hire a lawyer or even consult with someone who signed a postnuptial agreement before. Signing such agreements is a major life decision and you need to go into it with all the information possible. Financial agreements like these can resolve one issue that plagues your marriage, but you need to be sure you are getting a good deal.
Postnuptial agreements tend to be very controversial since they come after the marriage. But it is just one way to protect the assets that you worked hard for. The information above should be a big help in ensuring that any postnuptial agreement you get will be a fair one. Keep them in mind when you are drafting one or need to sign one yourself.
