If you are one of the 80% of people who remarry after their first marriage ends in divorce, you may wish to consider having a Virginia prenuptial agreement in place this time around. A well thought out and well-written prenup can not only save you the financial headaches and heartaches you went through in your first divorce if this marriage likewise fails, but it can also be beneficial if this marriage lasts until death do you part.
Market Watch reports that if you are like most people entering a second marriage, you have the following financial concerns:
- How you and your new spouse will support each other through retirement and old age
- How the two of you will pay your living and other expenses
- How you will leave assets to your respective children from your respective previous marriages
- How you will balance the needs of each other against the needs of your respective children
- How you will financially handle a divorce if this marriage fails
- How you will financially handle the death of whichever of you dies first
Prenup advantages
Your prenuptial agreement can address all of these issues, plus any other financial concerns that you and your about-to-be new spouse may have. For instance, if one of you has a large retirement plan but the other’s plan is considerably smaller, you can agree that both of you will rely on the larger plan to pay your retirement expenses while you make only the minimum required withdrawals from the other plan.
Or your prenup could include a provision whereby should any dispute arise between the two of you during a divorce or between the surviving spouse and the deceased spouse’s children, a less expensive alternative dispute resolution must be used, such as mediation, collaboration or arbitration.
All in all, signing a prenup prior to your second marriage just makes sense, especially if one or both of you have substantial current assets.
This is general educational information and not intended to provide legal advice.
