Prenuptial Agreements: Potential Benefits for Couples Who Stay Married

It is made between spouses before they marry or enter into a civil partnership which establishes how they wish their assets to be divided if they should divorce or have their civil partnership dissolved.

Promotes Honest Communication about the Couple’s Finances

Act of creating a prenuptial agreement lead the couple to honest and complete communication about what they own and what they owe. With that knowledge, the spouses can work together to create a financial strategy that is beneficial to them as a married couple.

 Useful Estate Planning Tool
A prenuptial agreement can be a useful part of a couple’s estate plan. For example, a pre-nuptial agreement can be used by a spouse to sign away his or her rights to be the beneficiary of an insurance policy or retirement plan. This is particularly important if the spouse is required by law to be a beneficiary of such a policy absent an agreement otherwise. A prenuptial contract can also be used by a spouse to sign away his or her rights to the statutory spousal share of the other spouse’s property when the spouse passes away.

Include Rules
It includes all the rules governing the ownership and use of assets during the marriage and the settlement of said assets in the event that the marriage is dissolved.

Protection from Accrued Debts

Not everyone getting married has large assets. In fact, many people choose to get married despite the fact one party in the relationship has an unreliable finance history. In this situation prenuptial agreements can protect the other party in the relationship from previously accrued debts.

Benefits
• It also protects the disputes and apprehension between the parties about the division of assets.
• It is also used to preserve inherited family wealth.
• It is very useful for the couples to enter into pre nuptial agreement before the marriage.
• It will keep the cordial relation between the spouses.
• It also minimizes the injustice between spouses.
• Each couple must describe in great the detail his assets in the pre nuptial agreement.
• This will help the parties to ascertain which party owns what before the marriage.
• Mostly, the disputes between the spouses occurred on the financial assets. It also strengthens the family relationship and provides the more pleasure to the matrimonial life.
• It is an important document because it determines the ownership of the assets.
• Couples can freely earn or buy anything without the fear that their asset will be divided equally.
• This agreement stops the operation of rule of division of assets on equal basis.

Governing law

Ireland do not have legislation on pre-nuptial agreements.

Contents
• Strength family relations
• Determine ownership of assets
• Protect from debts
• Useful estate planning tool

Reason to buy from Net Lawman
The prenuptial agreement from Net Lawman provides you a comprehensive range of agreements that save your time and can be amended accordingly as and when required.

Prenuptial agreement protect premarital assets

Why agreement is required

When a couple take the step of living together, whether this is with a view to marriage or long term cohabitation, it is important that steps are taken to protect assets which are being brought into the relationship and to define what will happen to those assets in the unfortunate event that the relationship subsequently breaks down.

Exclude liabilities Pre nuptial agreement will protect all current and future assets. It excludes the liabilities of the parties towards each other and the asset of the parties earned before or after the marriage will remain the sole property of the individual party. If the parties do not prefer to enter into pre nuptial agreement, the assets will be divided on the equal basis.

Implication for Ireland
When determining what awards to make in relation to the division of assets on a judicial separation or a divorce the Irish Courts are bound by the requirement that they make "proper provision for both spouses" out of the assets of the couple. This requirement arises out of the special protection afforded to the institution of marriage by the Irish constition.

Inventory of assets Under the proposed agreement, a couple would complete an inventory of assets each person held before the marriage and agree that in the event of a divorce, each would be entitled to keep those original assets. However, any new assets acquired during the course of the marriage, such as improvements or additions to the farm, would be divided between the couple.

Protects Inheritances Prenups can ensure that any inherited money, property or assets will stay within the family. Protecting an inheritance is the primary reason middle-aged people with children are likely to enter into a prenuptial agreement. prenup can give peace of mind to children or other family members who worry about being effectively disinherited in the event of divorce.

Protects from Spouse's Debt

When divorcing, marital assets are not the only thing that must be divided: marital debt is divided as well. If one spouse incurred substantial debts before or during the marriage--while starting a new business, for example--in some circumstances, it may be unfair to hold the other spouse partially responsible for the repayment of the debt upon divorce. A prenup can determine who shall be responsible for debts incurred before or during the marriage.

Substantial protection and benefits of filing joint marital tax
Although it provides substantial protection for the Prospective Husband and the Prospective Wife’s separate property, it also allows the couple to avail themselves of the benefits of filing joint marital tax returns during the course of the marriage without creating the presumption that income from the respective parties has become marital/community property.

Contents
• Exclude liabilities
• Protection of assets and benefits of tax returns
• Protection from spouse debts
• Protect inheritance
• Inventory of assets

Reason to buy from Net Lawman The premarital agreement from Net Lawman provides you a comprehensive range of agreements that save your time and can be amended accordingly as and when required.

How Does a Prenuptial Agreement Work?

A prenuptial agreement is a private contract entered into by two parties before a marriage or civil union takes place.

Are There Any Limitations?

Pre-nuptial agreements do have limitations. They are not automatically legally binding. Courts can refuse to enforce them, particularly if the terms are unfair, or one party either did not understand the implications involved, or was put under pressure to sign. A court will also look at other factors within the marriage, such as children, the standard of living, length of union and the needs of each party.

How they work

Guarantee financial assets
Although prenuptial agreements do not guarantee a couple's happiness, they do protect both the bride and groom's financial assets if they do indeed divorce. A prenuptial agreement, on the other hand, guarantees what each person would receive.

What it defines
However, a prenuptial agreement be considered by anyone who owns a home or business, has children or grandchildren from a previous marriage, or will be supporting the other partner financially. It defines how those assets will be distributed in the event of a divorce, separation, or death. If neither of these events occurs and the couple lives happily ever after, then it does not affect the marriage. Essentially, it's just like an insurance policy - one use it only if one need it.

Making it Legal
 During the drafting of the agreement, both parties are required to disclose any and all of their financial assets. If, later down the road, it is discovered that either spouse hide something, then the prenuptial agreement can be declared invalid. When information is disclosed, both partners must sign the contract in the presence of an attorney. At this point, the pre-nuptial agreement is considered legally valid and will be upheld in court.

Can be amended 
A party may wish to amend a prenuptial contract if, for example, one or both of the spouses had minor children at the time the original prenuptial agreement was executed. The original premarital agreement may have financially provided for those minor children before providing for the spouse. However, as the years pass those minor children may be adults and financially independent and the spouses may agree to leave more assets to each other in the case of divorce or death.

Irish Law
Currently premarital contract are not legally enforceable in Ireland.

Under Irish family law, a couple’s combined assets are divided after a marriage break up, though not necessarily on a 50/50 basis.

How they work - an overview
It can be challenged later in court by an aggrieved partner. But in assessing the value of such an agreement, the courts ask themselves certain questions, such as:
• When entering the agreement, did both parties fully understand the nature of the agreement?
• Did both parties receive independent legal advice?
• Was there any pressure on any of the parties to sign the agreement?
• Did the party with most to lose make a full and frank disclosure of their financial status?
• Would it now be unjust to enforce the agreement, taking into account events during the signing of the agreement and events since?

Contents
• Guarantee security of finances
• Limitations
• Define assets
• Legally not enforceable
• Court assessment
• References