Many California couples don’t get a prenuptial agreement when they marry because they don’t think they have enough assets to make the effort worthwhile. Others still believe that it somehow “jinxes” the marriage or acknowledges that the marriage may not last.
A lot can change over the years. A couple may acquire more assets, one spouse may begin to significantly outearn the other and one spouse may give up their career to be a stay-at-home parent. One or both of them may come to realize they need to protect their interests if the marriage were to end – particularly in a community property state like California. They also may not view the possibility of eventual divorce as being out of the question if they’ve had a rough patch or two.
That’s where a postnuptial agreement comes in. The following are just two of the concerns that a couple can address in a postnup and why it can be a valuable resource if a marriage may meet its end before the death of one or both spouses.
Property division
A key element of most postnups is how the couple’s marital property would be divided in divorce. By detailing or at least outlining this, couples don’t have to be bound by community property division requirements. As long as the division of assets agreed to in the postnup isn’t egregiously unfair to one spouse, a court will typically accept it in a divorce.
Alimony
Couples often include provisions on alimony in their postnups – particularly if one spouse has been the primary earner in the marriage. Alimony can be a necessity for spouses who have left the full-time workforce to care for their family and who may not be able to become self-supporting after divorce or attain anything close to the marital standard of living on their own.
A postnup doesn’t have to be a precursor to divorce. However, couples who do eventually divorce can use it as a foundation for their negotiations. This can save time, money and conflict during a difficult period.
As with a prenup, each spouse should have their own legal professional involved in the drafting, negotiation or at least the review of a postnup to help them protect their rights and interests and help ensure that it’s a document that will hold up in court if it’s ever needed.
