Why Get A Prenuptial Agreement

Although divorce rates are reportedly dropping, it is still a substantial likelihood for many married couples. For first-time marriages, the rate is slightly less; for second-time unions it is even higher. Younger couples, however, are simply waiting longer to get married, preferring to cohabitate for a longer period. When faced with a decision to split up shared assets or allocate other financial obligations at the end of a relationship, having an agreement in place can make the decision less painful. That’s when a Prenuptial Agreement could be beneficial to both parties.

There are quite a few reasons why couples planning to marry should seriously consider a Prenuptial Agreement. In its simplest terms, it is a contract between two people who are about to be married. Such agreements usually address what would happen to their assets, income and other rights and obligations if they were to separate, divorce or die. The major reason people enter into a Prenuptial Agreement is to protect their respective assets. However, there are many other reasons to enter into a Prenuptial Agreement including to change the way the parties would be obligated to each other from how the law in their particular state would dictate but for their agreement.

“Some people have a greater need for prenuptial agreement than others,” revealed Chuck Vuotto, Esq., (vuotto.com and tvelaw.com) and author. “Although I believe it’s prudent for most people to have a Prenuptial Agreement, where you have situations where one party has far more premarital assets than the other or earns more than the other, a Prenuptial Agreement is an important consideration,” he added.

According to Vuotto, it may be that your future spouse has high debt or you own part of a business. In addition, if you are remarrying and have children of a prior marriage, support obligations or other commitments related to a prior relationship, you may wish to enter into a prenuptial agreement so that those obligations are recognized and addressed and neither past nor present families are disadvantaged in the event of a divorce or death. Further, if you have an expectancy of a significant inheritance in the future, a Prenuptial Agreement can be of great assistance to disclose that fact and make it clear that those assets will be protected from division in the event of a divorce.

Mr. Vuotto is the Managing Partner of Tonneman, Vuotto, Enis & White, LLC, and devotes his practice to family law.  Mr. Vuotto is the Editor-in-Chief of the New Jersey Family Lawyer, the official publication of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s(“NJSBA”) Family Law Section. He is a Past Chair of the Family Law Section, certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, is a Fellow, and sits on the Board of Managers of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (“AAML”) and has been trained by the AAML as a Family Law Arbitrator. Mr. Vuotto is also a trained divorce mediator. He was a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Family Part Practice Committee (2009-2011). On December 19, 2013 Mr. Vuotto was appointed to represent the NJSBA on the Ad Hoc Committee on the Arbitration of Family Matters. Mr. Vuotto is also a member of the Matrimonial Lawyers Alliance (“MLA”).