Saskatoon Prenuptial Agreement Lawyers Providing Legal Advice To Clients Who Wish To Protect Their Assets

If you are engaged, you have a lot to look forward to as you make plans to spend your life with the person you love. But as you start planning your wedding, don’t forget to consider writing up a prenuptial agreement. We understand that filling out legal paperwork is certainly not the most exciting part of wedding planning, and you likely don’t want to think about the possibility of divorce before you’re even married.

But the reality is that you don’t know what the future will hold for both of you, and you want to make sure your assets are protected no matter what happens years down the road. This is especially important if you have children from a previous relationship or particularly valuable assets that you wish to keep in your name. If you are ready to explore ways to protect your assets with this legal document, contact our law offices in Saskatoon today.

Who Should Get a Prenup?

While just about anyone can benefit from drawing up a prenup before getting married, it’s particularly recommended for people who have substantial personal or business assets that they do not want to lose or share in the event of a divorce. So, if you own a successful business or several investment properties, your premarital agreement can assert that you will keep these if you get divorced. It can also protect an inheritance or gift that you want to hold onto for yourself.

If you or your spouse have a lot of debt going into the marriage, and you don’t want to split that during divorce, this is another good reason to get a prenup. After all, the idea of marrying someone with a lot of debt can be worrisome for people who have worked hard to carefully manage their money for years. If you or your significant other have concerns about getting married due to excessive debt, talking to a prenuptial agreement lawyer is a good idea.

You might also consider a prenuptial agreement if you have dependents and want to ensure they’re entitled to the assets you’ve worked hard to earn, rather than having to split them with your spouse. For example, if you have elderly parents or minor children who could benefit from your assets in the event of your death, a prenup can ensure they get the full value of them. This should give you peace of mind before you enter into a marriage with significant wealth. If you have questions about the prenup process, come to Panko Collaborative Law & Mediation to talk to family law specialists serving the Saskatoon area.

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What Should a Prenuptial Agreement Include?

As you prepare to talk to a family lawyer about signing a prenup, you should get an idea of what this type of legal contract should cover. This will depend on the specific concerns that you and your spouse have about your assets and debts, but in general, it should discuss:

• How to handle separate assets that you each have before getting married
• How to split up marital property, including the family home
• How to handle debts that one or both enter the marriage with
• Whether you will share an inheritance or family heirlooms
• Who will get the funds from disability and life insurance policies
• Who will get spousal support in the event of divorce
• What to do with spousal gifts, including the engagement or wedding ring, after divorce
• How and where the children you share will be educated
• What religious upbringing will your children have

The point of the prenuptial agreement is to specify how to handle important details of life, including assets, debts, and dependents. However, there are some details that you cannot add to this document. For instance, you can’t discuss parenting arrangements or child support in a prenup. You also cannot add in illegal or immoral requests, including anything regarding adultery or sexual demands. If you try to add these points, your prenup could be considered invalid. This is why it’s important to hire a prenuptial agreement lawyer to draft this legal document correctly. Contact our Saskatoon law firm to get started.

What Factors Could Make a Prenuptial Agreement Invalid?

Drafting a prenuptial agreement that cannot be enforced is a waste of your time and money, so make sure it’s done right the first time. This means you should hire an experienced prenuptial lawyer who can ensure that this document only addresses topics that are permitted. For instance, if the document contains directions regarding child parenting arrangements or child support, it will be considered invalid.

Another reason for a prenup to be invalid is if there is evidence that one or both spouses did not disclose all information about their finances, including debts and assets. If one spouse was pressured or coerced into signing the document or did not have a prenuptial lawyer on their side to review it first, a judge won’t be able to enforce it. So, make sure you both have your own lawyer examine it before you agree to sign it and do not surprise your spouse with it on the way to the wedding. You should both have the opportunity to carefully review the contents of the document with a lawyer before signing, so if you signed it on the way to the wedding, a judge likely won’t enforce it.

Finally, if there are provisions that are clearly unfair to one spouse, the prenup may end up invalid. Neither of you should end up broke or way worse off than the other after a divorce. This means you cannot plan to leave your spouse with all your debt accrued during the marriage, and you can’t end up with all the assets, even if you made and spent more money during the marriage. The division of assets will have to be fair to both of you.

This is why it’s so important that you each have your own prenuptial lawyer to represent you and check that the provisions in this document are fair to you. At Panko Collaborative Law & Mediation, we can take on the task of drawing up a prenup to protect any separate property you bring into the marriage, so contact us today for an initial consultation.

What Is a Cohabitation Agreement?

If you’re not married but have been with your partner for years, you may be worried about what happens to your assets when you have a common-law relationship. Fortunately, there are still ways to protect yourself in case you ever break up. While you cannot sign a prenuptial agreement if you’re not getting married, you can sign a cohabitation agreement.

This document is very similar to a prenup since the point of it is to determine how assets and debts will be treated if you’re no longer in a relationship with your partner in the future. A cohabitation agreement should address how you will split your assets, including your home, retirement accounts, vacation properties, vehicles, insurance policies, and more. It should also discuss how to handle your debts and any major life choices you will make for your children, including where and how you will raise them.

Contact our law firm in Saskatoon if you want to find out if you and your partner would be eligible for a cohabitation agreement. Our lawyers have helped a variety of couples with different circumstances who wanted to make arrangements for their assets in case they did not stay together forever, and we can do the same for you.

Why Do You Need to Hire a Lawyer for a Prenuptial Agreement?

Now that you know how a prenuptial agreement can benefit you and what to include in it, you might still be wondering if it’s right for you and your spouse. The only way to find out for sure is to schedule a consultation with a lawyer so you can discuss this option. After all, you will need a lawyer’s help any time you are dealing with this document, so you might as well initiate a lawyer/client relationship with a legal professional who has experience with prenuptial agreements.

If you meet with a lawyer and decide that a prenup is the right way to go, the next step is to have them draft it for you. Your lawyer will walk you through the process, beginning with which topics you want to address in it. While your lawyer will guide you to ensure your document discusses important topics and avoids any that aren’t permitted, it will be up to you to decide on the specific details. So, if you want to ensure you get to keep a particular property in the event of divorce, or you want to outline who gets spousal maintenance, you can include these points.

It’s possible that you will want to update your prenuptial agreement over time. After all, it’s likely that you and your spouse will get more assets and debts over the years, or your job situation will change, requiring you to consider the prospect of spousal support. If any of these changes occur, you should talk to a lawyer to get help updating the document. This will ensure you don’t add any language that will make it invalid or delete any statements that could protect you in the future.

Even if you already have a prenup, you could still benefit from meeting with prenuptial agreement lawyers in Saskatoon. For instance, if you’re considering divorce, it’s a good idea to double-check that your existing prenup is valid so there are no surprises when it’s time to enforce it. If it turns out that you do not have a valid prenuptial agreement, you can make any necessary changes to it with the help of a lawyer. Similarly, if you suspect that the prenup you signed is not fair to you or may not be valid, talking to a lawyer about this can give you the legal support you need to request changes to the document as necessary.

In short, whether you are wondering if you and your spouse should create a prenup or want to make sure an existing agreement is as effective and fair as possible, you should talk to skilled lawyers today. When you contact our law firm for a consultation, you can sit down with caring, experienced prenuptial agreement lawyers in Saskatoon on a day that works for you. Call us today at 306-518-8107 to learn more.