It’s June, the traditional month of weddings. These days, more and more couples are waiting until they are in their thirties or even beyond to tie the knot. When people who have already accumulated personal assets decide to marry, how those assets are dealt with is, or should be, a major concern for both spouses.
Pre-marital agreements are not only for celebrities and the super-rich these days. When both spouses bring money, property, possessions, and possibly children into a relationship, it’s essential that both spouses agree on how these things will be handled, and who gets what (or even whom) if there is a split or a death.
Get it all down in writing, LEGALLY, and make sure an attorney is involved! Word-of-mouth will not hold up in court; besides which, word-of-mouth is often forgotten or, at best, misinterpreted.
If you want your assets to go where and to whom you WANT them to go, have a lawyer draw it up and file it, and be sure both spouses know exactly where to find each other’s legalities.
In movies, these estate disputes are usually solved fairly and equitably, but in real life, it’s not always so, UNLESS you have made it legally crystal clear.
Anna Nicole Smith did not end up with much of her husband’s estate because he did did not change his will when he married her. Be sure you are more legally cautious than he was.
Then again, he married Anna Nicole Smith; how cautious was he expected to be?
Make sure YOU do better. Get it all down in writing, and have a lawyer oversee it. Make sure both you AND your spouse know exactly where your documents are, and what is in them.
“No surprises” is a good thing, when it comes to estate planning.
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on Tuesday, June 19th, 2007 at 12:04 am
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