Postnuptial Agreement, a Marital Agreements

A few weeks ago, the whole planet was shocked to hear the divorce from the widely admired "golden" couple of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The impending divorce comes after more than a year of multiple Hollywood divorces, including the divorce of Johnny Depp from Amber Heard.

From all of this bad news, we would think only celebrities need to protect their assets from a spouse, and so on establish a post/prenuptial agreement, right? Wrong.

According to a survey from last year by the American Academic of Matrimonial Lawyers, a post-nuptial agreement is increasing in popularity and is made by both spouses for mutual interest.

Things change during a marriage. Careers grow, spouses develop new interests and habits, financial situations improve or decline. When all of these occur, it could be the time to update your prenuptial agreement, or if you haven't done one yet, create a post-nuptial agreement. Our team of skilled Raleigh divorce and family law attorneys can assist you in setting up a post-nuptial agreement.

Post-nuptial Agreement in a Nutshell...

As I previously explained on my post '3 Types of Marital Agreements in North Carolina', a post-nuptial contract is signed after the wedding. Similar to the prenuptial contract (signed before the wedding day), the post-nuptial agreement is a contract that primarily spells out how assets and liabilities would be split upon divorce or death. Spouses use this agreement to:

• Decide who is responsible for the debts from various origins.
• State the extension to which one of the spouses (or both spouses) is the recipient of income from various sources.
• Be used for a spousal waiver of benefits from a retirement account.
• Details the division and/or distribution of property in case of divorce or death.

Is it the right agreement for my case?

Post-nuptial agreements are used for a wide variety of reasons - and they aren't all created because a spouse thinks of the end of their marriage or thinks their spouse will get more than his or her fair share of assets in a divorce. In fact, some situations can increase the need for a post-nuptial agreement:

• Children assets protection: You may want to protect your children from previous marriages. By creating a post-nuptial contract, you can ensure that your assets will go to your children in case of illness or death.
• Financial security: When you interrupt your career path to spend a significant amount of time caring your children, you may want to make sure you will be financially secured in case your marriage ends.
• Family's business protection: In some wealthy families, an older generation may want their adult children entering into marriage to sign a pre/post nuptial contract to ensure their family's asset stays within the bloodline.
• Financial changes: As I mentioned it above, the variation of the financial fortunes can lead to creating a post-nuptial agreement. Whether your spouse or you, are experiencing a change in investment income, selling business, debts increasing and so on, this agreement could help protected the whole family.
• Partner punishment: Post-nuptial contract is often used to punish the partner for unfaithful behaviors. North Carolina laws are very strict on unfaithful behaviors from a spouse and could give more advantages to the other partner during divorce judgment.
• To save your marriage: Oftentimes, couples start to talk about post-nuptial agreement when there is no more communication between them. Establishing a post-nuptial contract has the potential to help each partner to communicate, clarifies the couple's financial information and what each partner is entitled to. According to Elinor Robin, a conflict strategist, and mediator: "The very process of working on this arrangement is a positive exercise for most of couples and could save a marriage," "People will say (a post-nup) ruins the romance, it ruins the love. If you can't have difficult discussions, that's a death knell for a marriage."  However, to suggest a post-nuptial contract in an insecure relationship may be experienced as a breach of trust and do irreparable damage to the marriage. So be mindful of your partners emotions when suggesting an agreement.

Contact an Experienced Raleigh Marital Agreement Attorney

Marital contracts must be skillfully drafted and properly executed in order to be effective. It is important that you seek the advice of a knowledgeable Raleigh Family Law Attorney if you and your spouse are interested in entering into a Post-nuptial Agreement. Call The Doyle Law Group, P.A. at (919) 301-8843 to set up an appointment to speak with one of our attorneys or complete the form below.