Getting married is an exciting celebration of your love and commitment to another person. During the time leading up to your wedding, you may not want to think about planning for divorce. Why think about a failed marriage scenario when you’re about to try and be a success story? However, for many couples who do end up divorcing, it’s a lot more complicated when they haven’t planned ahead and protected their individual assets. A prenuptial agreement, or prenup, does just that–it’s a contract you and your partner sign before marriage that lays out how different assets and financial issues will be managed in the event of divorce. But why would you want a prenuptial agreement in New Jersey if you’re not planning to get divorced? And what, exactly, is included in a prenup?
What Is Included in a Prenuptial Agreement in New Jersey?
Each state has its specifics of what is included in a prenup. In New Jersey, a prenuptial agreement includes:
1. Division of Assets
Assets are items or property you own that have financial value. This can include a car, a home, stock, retirement accounts, and so on. When you enter a marriage, you and your spouse may each have your own assets that you bring into the relationship, and you may acquire shared assets together. It can get complicated, and even contentious, to disentangle these assets in the event of a divorce. A prenuptial agreement in New Jersey specifies how those assets will be divided so there are no grey areas or points of contention.
2. Debt Responsibility
The same way you can bring assets into a marriage as well as acquire assets together, so too with debt. Debt includes car payments, mortgages, credit card debt, student loans, and other scenarios where you owe money to another party. A prenuptial agreement will allocate that debt between you and your spouse, so you know who is responsible for what in case of a divorce.
3. Alimony
Alimony refers to how much one spouse may need to financially support the other if they get divorced. You don’t need to include specifics regarding alimony in a prenuptial agreement in New Jersey for the courts to come to some sort of spousal support arrangement, but you do have the option to include it if you have specific requirements you want to make sure are in place.
4. Gifts and Inheritance
If you receive a gift or an inheritance meant just for you, not you together with your spouse, New Jersey excludes that asset from equitable distribution treatment. A prenuptial agreement can specify how you want that asset handled.
How Can You Benefit from Having a Prenup?
A prenuptial agreement is a safety net for your assets. Just like you get health insurance in case of illness, or auto insurance in case of an accident, a prenuptial agreement is like insurance for your personal assets when you take the risk of joining your life with another person.
Signing a prenup doesn’t mean you’re expecting your marriage to fail. It just means you’re making smart financial decisions to protect yourself in case things don’t work out the way you hope they will. After all, in 2022, it was reported that 43% of first-time married couples end up divorcing. In the best-case scenario, you’ll never have to use it, but in case you do, you’ll be happy it’s there.
Our Professional Team Can Help You with Your Prenuptial Agreement in New Jersey
Bauer & Karch is experienced in all matters of family law in New Jersey, including prenuptial agreements. Our expert attorneys will work with you to create a prenup that reflects your particular situation. If you are already married and did not sign a prenup before your marriage, you still have options. Postnuptials are similar to prenups but are signed after marriage. If you are thinking about getting a prenup before you get married, or need guidance with a postnuptial agreement, contact us so we can help.