Postnuptial agreements are on the rise in Las Vegas
Recently on our Las Vegas family law blog, we wrote a post detailing the benefits of prenuptial agreements, advising our readers to consider creating one before getting married, even if they don’t anticipate any divorce or property division issues arising in the future. But despite those potential benefits, many couples hesitate to bring up the topic of prenups prior to walking down the aisle, believing them to be unromantic and pessimistic.
However, the wedding day is not necessarily the final deadline for creating such an agreement. According to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, post-nuptial agreements or “marital contracts” are becoming more popular among married couples who wish to avoid complicated, expensive litigation should their marriage, one day, end in divorce.
A post-nuptial agreement (or “post-nup”) is largely identical to a prenup, save for the fact that it is created and signed after marriage instead of before. A post-nup is a legally binding document that establishes how the couple’s property will be divided upon divorce. It can be as general or detailed as the couple wishes, dividing everything from their bank accounts, debt and real estate to household items and personal property. Post-nups can even state which spouse would get custody of the family pet in the event of divorce.
Similarly to prenups, the process of creating a post-nup can be difficult to navigate. It will require the couple to engage in very candid conversations about the logistics of their marriage and their life together. In addition, both spouses will need to be very honest about their finances. Failing to fully disclose an asset or a debt could cause the pre-nup to get thrown out in court.
Source: ABC News, “Postnuptial agreements becoming more common, signed after couples get married,” Ric Romero, Aug. 29, 2012
The attorneys at our Nevada family law firm help couples create contracts like those discussed above. To learn more, please see our prenuptial agreements page.
