Trusted Premarital Agreement Attorney in Salt Lake City, UT
Preparing a premarital agreement can feel unfamiliar, especially when you are unsure how to raise the subject with your partner. At Telfer Family Law & Mediation, we approach this sensitive topic with compassion and respect for both people involved. As a premarital agreement attorney serving Salt Lake City, UT, Diana Telfer helps you understand the proposed terms and consider whether the document reflects your intentions. From an initial draft through later revisions, we give careful attention to your questions and the language of your agreement. You can raise concerns along the way rather than leave them unaddressed before you sign.
People often think of Pre-Marital Agreements, often based on sitcoms, where one party shows up a few days before the wedding with a “Pre-Nup,” (Pre-Nuptial agreement, also known as a Pre-Marital Agreement). In the situation comedy, such a scenario often results in a great deal of drama that, on a television show, may be funny, but in real life, that scenario often ends in real drama with relationships being destroyed, weddings being called off, or marriages starting off on a very bad note.
In today’s world, Pre-Marital Agreements are often very different from those situation comedies. Today’s couples are frequently more sophisticated and aware that divorce can have a significant impact on their financial situation. Couples who are marrying today are frequently later in life and have estates that have been established through years of hard work, sometimes with a previous spouse who may be deceased. They are interested in safeguarding their estates from any future litigation, including divorce litigation or litigation over their estates, in the event that their new relationship ends due to their death. Many individuals are unaware that the termination of their relationships due to the death of one member of a couple can result in litigation over their estate between their children and the surviving spouse, which is essentially akin to a divorce.
So today’s marrying couples understand that it is often wise to keep their estates separate. They are not coming to that decision to prevent their new spouse from sharing in their estate but to simplify their lives.
It is advisable to investigate whether the two individuals are both savers, whether they are both spenders, or if one is a saver and the other is a spender at some juncture in a relationship prior to marriage. When drafting a Pre-Marital Agreement, the parties have the opportunity to jointly address these inquiries and ascertain how they will address any discrepancies in their financial perspectives. It is much better to have those difficult conversations prior to entering into marriage than after. If they find out their different philosophies are not compatible, it is much better to learn that prior to entering into a marriage. However, if they ascertain that, despite any discrepancies they may have regarding finances and other life decisions, they still wish to enter into a marriage, they will be entering into the relationship with a more comprehensive understanding of themselves and their partner, which can only strengthen the marriage.
The Collaborative Process is one of the most effective methods for establishing a Pre-Marital Agreement. In the Collaborative Process, the attorneys of each party assist them in preparing for the discussions by assisting them in identifying their objectives and concerns, including:
- Would they prefer for one of them to remain at home in the event that they have children?
- What will they do to ensure that the stay-at-home parent does not eventually suffer from the loss of their career advancement by compensating or protecting the person who is staying home and giving up their career, even temporarily, when they want one of them to remain home when they have children?
- Do they wish to address the fact that one party has significantly more income or assets than the other in the event of a divorce or demise of the more financially secure party?
- Do they intend to establish a life insurance policy or establish and fund an account to ensure that the party with less income and assets is financially secure in the event of a divorce or the death of the other party?
These are merely a few of the inquiries that prospective spouses may and should contemplate.
More and more couples are deciding to live together for a short time or a long time prior to marrying. Each of the questions that marrying couples should consider is also important for co-habiting couples, but there are also some questions that should be considered that are specific to co-habiting couples, such as:
- If one party moves into the home of the other party and they pay the mortgage or other bills together, what provision, if any, should be made to compensate the non-owner party for their part of the payments toward their living expenses?
- If the couple purchases property together and they end their relationship, how will that property be divided?
Couples can investigate these and other inquiries through the collaborative process to establish a healthy foundation for their new relationship. If they remain together, they can subsequently adjust these agreements to suit their relationship over time. Or, if they do not stay together permanently, the creation of an agreement on how to end their relationship will result in less expense and fewer hard feelings down the road.