PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENTS

Divorce and Family Law Attorney in Prescott, Arizona

Divorce and Family Law Attorney in Cottonwood, Arizona

You’re going to the chapel and you’re going to get married.

But you’ve been down this road before and got burned.  Or maybe you’ve never been married and you just want to protect what you’ve worked for and expect to build during your marriage, and if things don’t work out, you want to make sure you’re protected.  

A prenuptial agreement, or “pre-nup” as they are commonly referred to, is a great way for parties, in anticipation of their contemplated marriage, to fix, establish and determine the rights which shall accrue to each of them in the other’s estate in their marriage ends in divorce or legal separation.

In simple terms, pre-nups are contracts that allow the parties to achieve a different result than the law may otherwise dictate if their marriage ends in a divorce or legal separation.

For example, under Arizona’s community property law, all property acquired during marriage, except property acquired by gift or inheritance, is community property and thus jointly and equally owned by both spouses regardless of whose name is on the title or who put in the work to acquire it.  A pre-nup can contract around that outcome by expressly proclaiming that property acquired by either spouse during marriage shall be that spouse’s sole and separate property and the other party shall have no rights to or interest in such property in a divorce or legal separation.  A pre-nup can also declare that neither party receive spousal maintenance in a divorce or legal separation, or it may set limits on the amount of spousal maintenance a spouse receives and/or the duration such spousal maintenance shall be paid.

While parties are largely free to contract around Arizona community property and spousal maintenance laws, they cannot contract around Arizona’s child support or custody laws.  So if parties to a pre-nup divorce and have a minor child in common, one of the parties will still have to end up paying child support to the other party if that is what application of the Arizona Child Support Guidelines require, and the custody orders regarding the parties’ child will still have to be in the best interests of the child.

If you want your future spouse to enter into a prenuptial agreement or your future spouse wants you to enter into a prenuptial agreement, you need an experienced attorney to advise you of your rights under Arizona law and ensure that any agreement you enter is properly drafted and will hold up.

Our Prescott and Cottonwood, Arizona family law attorney prepares prenuptial agreements for persons who want their future spouse to enter into a prenuptial agreement and reviews prenuptial agreements for persons whose future spouses have presented them with prenuptial agreements they want them to sign.

Put our attentive, compassionate, and trusted firm to work for you by scheduling a consultation today.