Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements

Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements are written and signed legal contracts that decide what will happen with you and your spouse’s finances in the event of death or divorce. Most people know that divorces can come with heavy legal fees, stress, and long complex processes. Some couples choose to sign these agreements to save time and money in case the marriage ends in a divorce. To find out more about how to make a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, be sure to talk with an Oklahoma Family Lawyer. 

Prenuptial Agreements 

Prenuptial agreements are legal contracts made before two people are married. These contracts will need to be written up and signed by both you and your spouse with two witnesses present to make the agreement official. You and your future spouse will also need to fully disclose all of your financial information on your income, debts, and assets. This information is needed to make decisions on how finances will be divided in the event of a divorce.

You may be wondering what exactly a prenuptial agreement can do for you if your marriage ends in a divorce. What a prenuptial agreement does is decide ahead of time on how you and your spouse’s finances will be divided up after the divorce. This agreement can decide what premarital property you will keep, how marital property will be divided, and how other finances tied to your or your spouse will be divided. 

Doing this can save time and money if your divorce ever happens to go to trial due to disagreements over other matters like child custody. While prenuptial agreements cannot decide on certain things like child custody or visitation hours, these agreements can at least save you some time during a divorce trial and guarantee that you will keep the property you want to keep.

Can I Do a Postnuptial Agreement?

Postnuptial agreements offer the same types of benefits as prenuptial agreements. The only difference is that prenuptial agreements are signed before marriage while postnuptial agreements are signed during the marriage. A postnuptial agreement can make modifications to a pre-existing prenuptial agreement. 

These postnuptial agreements are only valid if the agreement protects you and your spouse, involved full financial disclosure, and includes both of your signatures with two witnesses. A postnuptial agreement can decide on which separate property you own, marital property ownership, alimony, financial support for children from a previous marriage, and what pre-marital debt you or your spouse owe. 

Pre-marital debt is one particular financial aspect that is good to decide on ahead of time because otherwise, you may run the risk of paying for your spouse’s debt after a divorce. 

Family Lawyer in Oklahoma

Writing up a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can be challenging and you may be wondering what information you need to disclose. Try talking to an Oklahoma Divorce Lawyer if you have questions about this process. Contact the Putnam Law Office at (405)-849-9149 today for a consultation. Mr. Putnam is an Oklahoma City, OK attorney who is dedicated to his clients.