By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Agreements on Monday, April 4, 2016.
Like prenups, postnups are contracts that spell out how assets and debts should be split. Divorce lawyers are citing an increase in spouses asking for postnuptial agreements in the last three years.
The Wall Street Journal ran an article last month on some of the common reasons for a postnup:
Sometimes, it is to punish a spouse for bad behavior, such as infidelity. Other times it is for the opposite reason: to show commitment by guaranteeing a richer settlement if things don’t work out.
I’ve written about postnuptial agreements in the past. They are also used when, for other reasons, spouses want to change the financial agreements set in a prenup.
Postnups allow you to change the law. Right now in Florida, there has been a bill passed to modify the alimony law. The bill is waiting the Governor’s signature.
Through an agreement you can modify Florida’s legal standards for awarding alimony, in addition to modifying what the current law says about the amount of support and the duration of the alimony period.
The probability of divorce is around 50% for first marriages. For second marriages, it’s more like 70%. What some people don’t realize is that going through a second, third, or fourth divorce can be more complicated than first-time divorces.
In multiple divorces, couples are older, and have less time to make up for losses. Also, couples are competing for dwindling resources. Child-support, alimony, and dividing up of the retirement accounts may still be pending, and there can be little left to divide in a second divorce.
Postnuptial agreements are similar to prenuptial agreements, but are entered into after a marriage. Postnups can cover everything from how to divide financial assets in divorce to limits on partners’ weight gain – just as prenups can.
Prenuptial agreements and Postnuptial agreements can be extremely important if you are thinking of marrying. They are not just for the ultra-rich, but are an important part of every healthy marriage decision.
The Wall Street Journal article is here. Thanks to Thomas Sasser for the pointer.