QuestionHello again. I recently asked you a question about prenuptial agreements. I was telling you that I am completely against them and I have a feeling my fiance might ask me to sign one. Anyway, if we decided to keep our finances seperate, is it still necessary to sign a prenuptial agreement?
AnswerDear Danielle,
If you and your fiance decide together to keep your finances separate and in your own name it is still up to you to decide how "safe" you want to be. I'm not talking about trust here. I'm talking about liability.
For example, let's say you live in Texas and you and your husband divorce after 5 years or 20 years or 50 years...if he or you ran up debt (credit card, loans, etc.) YOU MAY BE LIABLE FOR THE DEBT! Your spouse doesn't have to tell you that they are thousands of dollars in debt but if your marriage does end in divorce you may very well be liable for debt you knew nothing about- Legally, because you are married. (Laws differ from state to state visit divorcesource.com for marriage/divorce info in your state)
I'm not trying to sound like a fairytale basher, but there are realities to consider. Right now the two of you are in love and have a wide open future together...so much can happen why leave it up to the state to decide when you can educate yourself and protect your union not simply yourselves individually.
If you do not sign a legally binding document (your marriage license is one) you are subjecting your marriage and yourself to laws you know very little about perhaps.
Why not take a prenup discussion as an opportunity to discuss the future- ie...who will take care of kids- how is this person's role valued? What if either of you loses their job who will pick up the slack?
Why not speak to a financial advisor about the ramifications of marriage and finances. Educating yourself can only help strengthen your union, trust and hopes for the future.
Persoanlly, I am not married, under 35 and have a boyfriend of 13 years and we split 90% of everything 50-50.
I hope this was helpful.
