It may be advisable to consider entering a pre or post marital agreement with your partner if you’re a business owner, entertainer, getting married later in life; or if you’re simply interested in protecting your estate and wealth in the future. Prenuptial agreements are especially used to protect financial interests if one spouse has substantial wealth in comparison to the other spouse. While the Illinois law does allow for spouses to create and maintain separate property known as non-marital property, various events during a marriage may change the status of your property. Entering a marital agreement can help protect your financial rights, as prenuptial and postnuptial agreements define what will happen when the marriage ends either in the event that the parties divorce or one of the parties passes away. Prenuptial or premarital agreements are entered into by parties before their marriage, and postnuptial or post marital agreements are entered into after the parties are married. Both types of marital agreements allow for clear expectations to be defined of each party’s financial rights and obligations while protecting the interests of the parties.
A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can be exigent in protecting interests shared by your family, such as your share in the family business, or future inheritances from relatives. A marital agreement can prevent your families business from being divided in the event of a divorce. Marital agreements can also limit debt obligations that a spouse may incur during the marriage and can limit spousal support owed in the event of dissolution of the marriage.
Prenups are undoubtedly a difficult subject to breach with your fiancé or spouse, but arranging one early on can help avoid controversy or conflict in the future. At Coladarci and Coladarci, our approach to prenups isn’t intended to be punitive towards any party, but rather is intended to help spouses define each parties rights and obligations going into a marriage to help build a strong foundation for their future.
