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Prenuptial agreements can affect wealth and debt

On Behalf of | Dec 20, 2011 | Divorce

Couples in Columbus, Ohio, that are planning to get married should consider creating a prenuptial agreement before tying the knot. Especially for those with a large amount of wealth or debt, a prenuptial agreement can mean the difference between financial stability and ruin after a divorce occurs, depending on the outcome.

When two people decide to wed, their first consideration is often whether or not they love each other. This is usually followed by one of the soon-to-be spouses getting acquainted with the financial status of the other and vice versa. For those with wealth, a prenuptial agreement may keep personal assets from becoming marital assets. This would allow the division of property that occurs during a divorce to be much smoother and more beneficial to the person who brought the most wealth to the table.

For those with debt, a prenuptial agreement could hurt them by eliminating the possibility of more property at the end of a marriage, but it may also be considered a generous financial move in the favor of a future spouse.

On occasion, one spouse may bring much more debt into the marriage than the other. A strategy should be decided upon for such debt — this may mean that the person who created the debt repays it alone or the couple takes it upon themselves to clear it up together. By signing a prenuptial agreement, one spouse may avoid seeing their former belongings be used to pay off a debt that they did not create.

Debt is often a part of marriage that should be overcome by someone, whether it be the original debtor or the new couple. If that marriage ends in divorce, a prenuptial agreement may be the insurance that allows one spouse to ensure that his or her wealth is not cut in half.

Source: LearnVest, “If My Partner Has a Ton of Debt, Can We Still Get Married?,” Dec. 6, 2011

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