Generally speaking, over 55% of all marriages fail. Most people ignore this statistic, believing their marriage will last forever. In Indiana, upon the filing of a divorce, all of your assets and debts are subject to being divided between spouses by a Court, regardless of whose name is on each asset or debt without a prenuptial agreement. You may only receive 40-50% of the net value of your marital estate.

If it is your second marriage, you may already have reduced your net worth by 50-60% when your second marriage just began.

To protect yourself and the assets you bring into your marriage from further reduction, you should consider a prenuptial agreement (before marriage agreement) that preserves each spouse’s separate wealth they bring into the marriage, along with any additional growth of those premarital assets during your marriage. A perfect example is your retirement accounts.

With a validly drafted prenuptial agreement, you can set aside your entire retirement accounts and all earnings and contributions you made into that retirement account during your marriage without your spouse being able to claim any amount of it at the time of divorce.

How you decide to title or comingle your assets during your current marriage will determine what assets are in the “marital estate” for a Court’s division. Without a prenuptial agreement, a Court must divide all of the assets and debts that exist when a divorce is filed.

Prenuptial agreements are particularly useful for farmers who wish to protect family farms, or persons who wish to preserve their assets for their children, separate from their current spouse.

Despite the use of a prenuptial agreement, parties after their marriage can rearrange their assets they wish to divide together in the event of a divorce.

Prior to marriage, you should consult an attorney to discuss your options in the event of divorce. A well-versed attorney will help ensure your assets are protected.

This article is for information purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice

Posted in Family & Domestic

About E. Spencer Walton