Prenuptial agreements are becoming more popular and more widely accepted these days. Instead of being seen as a “scandalous” legal tool used by the 1 percent to safeguard their finances in cases of divorce, prenups are now seen as practical agreements that create terms and limitations related to a marriage.
More importantly, prenups could also make divorcing easier, faster and less stressful should it ever be necessary to dissolve one’s marriage.
The benefits of signing a prenup in Michigan
Let’s take a closer look at some of the possible benefits of prenuptial agreements, which could achieve the following for those who create them:
- Protect the ability of children from a previous marriage to inherit. If it’s your second or subsequent marriage, inheritance laws could give your new spouse the right to inherit more of your assets than you wish. A prenup could let you designate certain assets for your children.
- Protect your personal business assets. If you must divide your business during a divorce, it mighr disrupt the success of your company. A prenup could be used to try to ensure that you’ll always stay in charge.
- Protect a debt-free spouse from the other spouse’s debts. Prenups could shield one spouse from absorbing another spouse’s debts in marriage.
- Establish the right of one spouse to receive compensation for giving up his or her career to raise the family. It might not seem like a sacrifice at the time for most stay-at-home parents, by try re-entering the workforce after 10 years of being a homemaker. It’s not easy.
- Establish who will be responsible for what during the marriage. Parents can make commitments and delineate various roles that they will carry through their marriages.
- Protect the spouse’ respective financial interests: Prenups can be powerful wealth-protection tools.
- Make divorce easier: A prenup can be seen as an “emergency divorce plan,” which hopefully will never become necessary, but if it does, it could be very valuable indeed.
Are you considering a prenup?
Prenuptial agreements are flexible documents that can be crafted in any number of ways to serve the needs of both spouses. However, they do need to be made in accordance with Michigan family laws so that they will remain valid and survive any legal challenges in court.
