Getting engaged is one of the happiest moments in a person’s life. However, while this time can be exciting, you also need to think about how this will impact your future. Of course, going into a marriage, you likely don’t foresee it ever ending, but divorce is something no couple can rule out entirely. No one wants to assume that the worst will happen, but there’s always a chance that the marriage won’t last, and if this ends up being the case, you want to know your best interests are protected. One way of doing this is by creating a prenuptial agreement prior to getting married.
If you want to ensure that your assets are protected should you or your spouse decide to end the marriage, you need to understand what you can and cannot do with a prenuptial agreement. At MHPS, our family law attorneys can help you carefully create a Tennessee prenuptial agreement that will benefit you should the marriage dissolve later on.
What Can You Put in a Prenuptial Agreement?
Dissolving a marriage can be incredibly complicated, and there are many matters that you and your spouse will need to discuss and agree on should you decide to divorce. Some common provisions that can be included in a prenup include:
- How assets will be divided in the event of a divorce and what is considered marital vs. separate property.
- How debts will be divided in the event of a divorce. This can be especially important if one party has a significant amount of debt.
- Each spouse’s rights and responsibilities regarding property.
- Protections for family heirlooms or an inheritance that ensure that they’re kept in the family. This includes heirlooms or inheritance that a person is expected to receive later on.
- Protections for a child from a previous marriage’s inheritance.
What Can’t You Put in a Prenuptial Agreement?
While there’s a lot you can detail in your prenup, there are also important limitations that you need to keep in mind. A few provisions you can’t include in a prenuptial agreement include:
- Anything illegal.
- Child custody and child support decisions. These decisions are left up to a judge to decide what is in the child’s best interest, and what the parents state in a prenuptial agreement does not affect this.
- Personal, non-financial decisions, such as child-rearing decisions and how household tasks are divided.
- A waiver of alimony rights.
- Invectives that can encourage getting a divorce.
Create Your Prenup Today with MHPS
Should you ever end up needing to use your prenuptial agreement, you want to know that the provisions you included are enforceable. However, creating a valid prenup is not as simple as it seems. To ensure your prenup contains everything you need, you need to create it with a family law attorney. At MHPS, we can help you protect your future regardless of what happens in the future.
Contact MHPS today for assistance creating your prenup.
