A prenuptial agreement — sometimes referred to as a “prenup” or a “premarital agreement” — is an agreement signed by a couple prior to marriage. The agreement determines how the couple’s assets will be divided if they divorce and may set the amount of alimony paid by the high-net-worth partner. It may also impact the division of an individual’s property upon death.
Lawyers advise clients to negotiate a prenuptial agreement under a variety of circumstances. As a general rule of thumb, the wealthier you are, the more important it is to have a prenuptial agreement. Upon divorce, many states give the less wealthy spouse ownership and control over half the richer partner’s assets, if those assets were acquired during the marriage. This means that a woman with a successful real estate company would discover upon divorce that her husband had a legal right to half of what she earned during the marriage, even if the husband was an obsessive gambler who contributed nothing. This division of assets can be overridden by a prenuptial agreement, which is why this legal instrument is popular with high-net-worth individuals.
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A prenuptial agreement is a contract signed by a couple before their marriage that specifies how they will divide assets upon divorce or death. Sometimes a prenuptial contract may also set forth certain terms of the couple’s life together. A prenuptial agreement, sometimes called a “prenup” or a “pre-marital agreement,” is usually a good idea, especially when one or both partners have children from a prior marriage.
Unfortunately, your fiancé may feel that you want a prenuptial agreement because you do not really trust her, or because you expect your marriage to end in divorce. If handled improperly, prenuptial negotiations can drain the romance from a courtship, leaving suspicion and hurt feelings. Follow a reasoned strategy as you explain why, exactly, you want to negotiate a prenuptial agreement.
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This is a prenuptial agreement sample. Its purpose is to give you a sample of what a prenuptial agreement looks like and what sort of terms are contained in a prenuptial agreement – to give something concrete to all the theory on this website. You would be very foolish simply to copy this agreement and use it for your own, as everyone’s circumstances differ, and the law differs in every state. Instead I recommend that you study this sample and use it as a basis for getting a Do-it-yourself Prenuptial Agreement.
THIS AGREEMENT MADE IN TRIPLICATE THIS 28th day of July, 2011
BETWEEN:
| JOHN SMITH |
of the City of Los Angeles
in the State of California |
- AND - |
| SALLY JONES |
of the City of San Diego
in the State of California |
PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT
BACKGROUND
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While the Federal Government does not recognize same-sex marriages under DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act), several states now recognize and issue licenses for gay marriages, while many others offer all or some state-level spousal rights to domestic partnerships. This recognition began with a landmark decision in November of 2003, when the highest court of Massachusetts handed down a decision that the prohibition of same-sex violated the state’s constitution. On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts was the first state to provide marriage equality for gay couples by issuing marriage licenses.
It would take nearly three years before another state followed the example of Massachusetts. In October of 2007, Connecticut’s Supreme Court voted in favor of gay marriages based upon the belief that not to do so would violate the rights of gay couples to receive equal protection under constitutional guarantees.
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Twenty years ago the subject of gay marriage in the United States seemed to be almost a joke. Yet here we sit, a scant twenty years later, counting the number of states that have already embraced the concept, and looking ahead to other states joining suit. While the future of gay marriage is still somewhat unclear, the sheer diversity of the states that have legalized it is amazing to behold.
As the future of gay marriage moves forward, it is instructive to look back at those first bellwether states and how they helped to reshape the face of the nation.
Connecticut
The state of Connecticut officially allowed gay marriages to take place starting on November 12, 2008. That made Connecticut the third state to officially allow same-sex couples to marry. The state had previously enacted a civil union law back in 2005. That law gave gay and lesbian couples many of the same protections as marriage, and it became law on April 20, 2005 when the governor signed the bill. Civil unions for gay and lesbian couples officially began on October 1 of the same year. The new gay marriage law established in 2009 replaces those civil union and gives those same-sex unions the official recognition of the state.
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