Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Life circumstances can alter how prenuptial agreement is enforced


On behalf of Regina Edwards of Edwards & Associates, Family Law Attorneys posted in High Asset Divorce on Tuesday, March 18, 2014. 

Take a moment and consider this scenario: say you've been married for many years, but your spouse had a prior marriage. Both of you waived your rights to alimony and signed a prenuptial agreement. Your spouse had multiple kids in the first marriage, and they come to live with you. To make everything work, you quit your job to help take care of them. Everything is going well for many years -- and then your marriage hits a snag.

What are you supposed to do in this scenario? Without a right to alimony or spousal support, and with no job or working experience in years, you could be in a dire financial situation. If you and your spouse were to divorce, would the prenuptial agreement still stand? Or would parts of it be nullified given the drastically different life circumstances that apply now?

It is impossible to give a definite answer to any of these questions without specific details about the people and assets involved. Prenuptial agreements are critical documents, but they are also tricky. The person enforcing the prenup has a significant evidentiary threshold to cover, as does the other party involved. The above scenario may be imaginary in this context, but it is also very real for many couples across the country. Just look at our source article as an example.

Ultimately, it is important to realize that every marriage or divorce is unique -- and that the parties involved need to consult and experienced family law attorney to help them navigate the specifics of their case.

Source: Boston Herald, "Woman worries about terms of prenup," Gerald Nissenbaum, March 16, 2014
Tags: divorce

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