Pre-marital agreements are an important financial planning tool for couples. As couples often marry after they have established their careers, each of them may own their own property. Few spouses-to-be want to simply give up their separate property. But many people do not realize the consequences of marriage on their property. Expensive, complex problems can arise in a dissolution action because parties failed to consider the possibility of dissolution before marriage and take the steps necessary to protect what they already owned.
THE BENEFITS OF THE PRE-MARITAL AGREEMENT
If a couple cannot have hard conversations about money, property and finances BEFORE marriage, the probability of success of their marriage is slim. We recommend that before parties marry without a premarital agreement, they read the book Prenups for Lovers: A Romantic Guide to Prenuptial Agreements, by Arlene G. Dubin.
We also recommend collaborative process or mediation as the best methods for working out the terms of a premarital agreement. A couple can learn important communication tools in these processes which will help strengthen the marriage. Sometimes the assistance of an expert such as a financial planner or forensic accountant is helpful.
When they are in love and planning a marriage or registering as a domestic partner, no one wants to contemplate that the relationship might not be happily ever after. However, the reality is that more than 50% of marriages end in dissolution. The divorce statistic for Los Angeles County is even higher. Proper premarital planning can significantly reduce the time and money involved if the marriage or domestic partnership breaks up. Linda is deeply committed to helping spouses-to-be or partners-to-be avoids pitfalls and expense through a complete, well-done premarital agreement.