When Texas residents get married, entering into a pre-marital agreement specifying property division in the event of a divorce is oftentimes the last thing they want to think about. This is why some couples opt to enter into a post-nuptial agreement, as mentioned in a previous post. As difficult as it is to envision a future without your current spouse, the reality is that changing circumstances lead people to drift apart and couples should be financially prepared for such a possibility.
These legal documents, whether pre-marital or post-marital, are important because they can cover a number of topics, depending on the parties entering into them. First and foremost, they can cover property division. This means they can outline separate property and assets the parties had before marrying one another, as well as community property, assets and income collected after the marriage that are subject to division. These documents can also cover spousal support, which is money going from one spouse to another when the marriage comes to an end.
Ideally, these documents should be drafted before the couple gets married. If one party postpones it and springs the idea right before the wedding, the document could be invalidated at a later date due to duress or fraud. At our firm we attempt to help couples draft these documents in a manner that is agreeable to both and can be enforceable in court as well.
At our firm we also try to assist couples who did not draft a premarital agreement and now want to enter into one many years after their wedding took place. We attempt to help couples protect their assets and inheritance at various points of the engagement and marriage. For more on these agreements, visit our page.