Prenups are on the arise. But for many lovebirds, they remain taboo. If your fiancé raises a premarital or prenuptial agreement, we are here to help you protect your loving marriage with a fair prenup.

Generally, prenups are legal agreements entered before marriage. They can address an array of topics like estate planning, divorce planning, or how to handle finances during the marriage. They can do as much or as little as the happy couple wants.

Some of the benefits of a prenup include:

• Avoiding changes in rights simply because of a move. A prenup sets legal rules for you. The legal impact of a marriage depends on the law where each person lives at the time of a particular event. For example, in some states inherited property is marital and in other states it is non-marital, meaning that the spouse who receives the inheritance is the only one who keeps the inheritance. In today’s mobile society, a prenup can set the rules regardless of where you might live in the future.
• Avoiding unknown legal changes. The law changes over time. The law today might not be the law in the future. For example, military service members used to have exclusive rights to their pensions. If you were in the military earning a pension and getting married, you would think your pension was yours alone. Then the law changed. Suddenly your spouse had a right to part of your pension. With a prenup, the service member could have protected their pension. Without a prenup, the service member was at the mercy of the law. A prenup can set the rules for your marriage regardless of how the law changes in the future.
• Preventing future disputes. Most marriages end because of financial disagreements. Dual income families can set rules for how to run finances. Do you believe each person should be financially self-sufficient? Do you believe everything earned during the marriage should be equally divided if you divorce? A prenup can set rules based upon a couple’s values.
• Documenting what you have or expect to have. If you have assets before marriage, you may want to ensure that your assets are protected. In a divorce, substantial funds can be spent proving whether your asset existed before the marriage. In death, many states allow a spouse to claim at least half of the deceased persons assets. A prenup can create a record of current property and cut down on legal battles in the future.

Please contact the Family Law attorneys at Bruning & Associates, P.C. at 815-455-3000 to schedule your complimentary consultation to better understand how a prenup may impact you and the process of negotiating this agreement that will serve as a building block to a successful marriage.

Click here to learn more about Attorney Laura Inns.