Many people are familiar with prenuptial agreements. However, they may not see the value in negotiating a contract prior to marriage. During an engagement, people often have idealistic expectations for the future and may not want to do anything that could disrupt the peace.
However, after years of marriage, people may recognize how important having protection from a spouse’s misconduct could be. They might also recognize how valuable the ability to divorce without conflict might be.
Negotiating terms for a postnuptial agreement can help people divorce with dignity or possibly avoid divorce altogether in some cases.
What does a postnuptial agreement do?
People typically include many of the same terms in postnuptial agreements as they might include in prenuptial agreements. Frequently, spouses designate specific assets as separate property. They make it clear that they do not intend to divide those resources with one another if they divorce.
They may also outline basic standards for property division. That way, they can quickly negotiate an arrangement if they decide to divorce in the future. People might also add terms addressing alimony or spousal support.
In fact, spouses sometimes add penalty clauses where they impose consequences for continued misconduct, such as infidelity, in a postnuptial contract. The goal is to incentivize better behavior while working on the marriage and to create consequences if the marriage fails because of bad behavior. These have to be crafted carefully to avoid having them ruled invalid.
The terms of a postnuptial agreement take effect when spouses divorce and can prevent the need to negotiate arrangements when the marriage is at its worst point. Working cooperatively to draft a postnuptial agreement can help improve marital dynamics. An agreement could protect spouses from stress and major financial losses if they end up divorcing.
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