South Florida Attorney Eric N. Klein

Why Get a Prenuptial Agreement?

When most people think about getting married, they envision the wedding, the honeymoon, eternal love, and celebrating anniversaries. Very few think about the possibility of a marriage ending, of an ugly divorce and child support. It’s perfectly normal to think of marriage as a lifetime of love and happiness – this is the way everyone wishes married life would be, the way it should be in a perfect world. Unfortunately, the reality is much less appealing – about a third of all first marriages end in divorce, and up to half all second or third marriages result in divorces as well.

With these sobering statistics, and taking into account the financial effects of a divorce, it becomes obvious that a prenuptial agreement is, at the very least, good financial planning. A marriage, after all, requires more than just an emotional investment – it is a financial investment as well. A prenuptial agreement can help protect this financial investment in several ways:

First of all, a having a prenuptial agreement in place can substantially reduce the time and money spent in divorce proceedings. Lawyers’ fees, fees for expert witnesses, fees for appraisers of property value – all these can quickly add up to an exorbitant amount. A prenuptial agreement can head off a lot of legal wrangling over the distribution of certain assets during and after divorce, as well as prevent property from being distributed to undesired heirs.

Secondly, a prenuptial agreement can help secure private property that each party possessed before the marriage. This may be especially applicable for people who are individually wealthy and/or marry later in life, when they have already accumulated significant assets. A prenup can ensure that this property is protected in the case of a divorce.

Some people regard prenuptial agreements as evidence of a lack of trust in a marriage. However, the reality is that prenups aren’t necessarily made out of mistrust, but often out of a genuine and reasonable concern for the future.

If you are planning on getting married and need a prenuptial agreement drawn up, or if your marriage is ending and you need help in the divorce proceedings, call a Boca Raton family and divorce lawyer from Eric N. Klein and Associates at 561-353-2800 today.