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Why The Drafting Lawyer Should NEVER Be the Notary on a Prenuptial Agreement

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 16:23:21 GMT

One of the biggest prenup mistakes we see? The drafting lawyer acting as a notary.

When a prenuptial agreement is signed, most couples focus on the terms—assets, liabilities, and future expectations. But what often determines whether a prenup holds up later is not just what it says, but how it was executed.

One of the most important—and frequently mishandled—details is notarization.

Having the same lawyer who drafted the prenup also act as the notary may seem efficient. In reality, it can undermine one of the most critical safeguards in the signing process: independent verification.

Notarization Is Not Just a Formality

A notary public is intended to serve as a neutral, third-party witness who confirms:

The identity of each signer
That each person is signing voluntarily
That each person appears to have the capacity to understand the agreement

In prenuptial agreements (where enforcement can hinge on claims of duress, coercion, or lack of capacity), this independent verification can become key evidence.

Why the Drafting Lawyer Should Not Be the Notary

When the drafting attorney also notarizes the agreement, you lose the benefit of a second, independent set of eyes at execution.

Instead of two separate roles (advocate and neutral witness), you have one individual performing both.

That creates real risk:

No true independent verification
Reduced evidentiary weight if challenged
Blurring of roles between advocate and neutral
Greater vulnerability to claims of imbalance or pressure
Courts look at the Totality of the Circumstances

Across jurisdictions, courts evaluating prenuptial agreements commonly look at the totality of the circumstances surrounding execution, including:

Whether the agreement was entered into voluntarily
Whether both parties had a meaningful opportunity to review
Whether either party was under pressure or duress
Whether each person had the capacity to understand the agreement

A neutral notary supports these factors. A non-neutral or affiliated notary can undermine them.

The Reality of Attorney-Affiliated Notaries

Even when the notary is not the drafting lawyer, using a notary employed by that lawyer raises similar concerns.

Think about it: Is an attorney's own employee ever going to testify differently from the attorney? The judge or jury will think about that, too.

An employee notary operates within the structure and direction of their employer. While they are expected to act impartially, they may be perceived as following workplace instruction rather than functioning as a fully independent witness.

That perception alone can become a point of attack if the agreement is later challenged.

The False Economy: Saving a Small Fee Can Cost You Later

Some couples choose to notarize their prenup through their attorney simply to save a nominal fee or avoid inconvenience. However, t hose small savings can come at a high cost.

If the agreement is ever challenged, the lack of independence in notarization may become a focal point for questioning the integrity of the entire execution process.

Lawyers Are Not Permanent Witnesses

There is also a practical reality that is often overlooked: Lawyers retire. Lawyers relocate. Lawyers pass away.

If the drafting attorney is also the notary, you may lose your only witness to execution—or be left with testimony that is inherently non-neutral.

A separate, third-party notary creates a second, independent authenticator whose role stands on its own.

Best Practice? Use a Neutral Third-Party Notary

For stronger enforceability, the best practice is simple:

Use a notary who is completely unaffiliated with either party and their attorneys.

This provides:

A true second set of eyes
Stronger evidence of voluntariness and capacity
Greater credibility if the agreement is challenged
Independent authentication years later
An Inclusive Best Practice for All Couples

These principles apply universally to couples entering into prenuptial agreements. The goal is the same in every case: to create a fair, enforceable agreement that reflects mutual intent and withstands scrutiny over time.

A neutral execution process supports that goal without unnecessary emphasis on differences.

Final Takeaways

Agreements succeed or fail at execution, which is why the process is so important.

Using the drafting lawyer as the notary may save a small amount of time or money... but it comes at the cost of losing independent verification at the most important moment.

A neutral, third-party notary restores that protection.

And when it comes to something as significant as a prenuptial agreement, having a second, independent authenticator is not just better practice—it is a smart investment in the agreement’s long-term enforceability.

About the Author

Chantale L. Suttle, Esq. is an attorney focused on prenuptial and postnuptial agreements. Her practice emphasizes clarity, enforceability, and balanced execution processes, helping couples create agreements designed to withstand legal scrutiny over time.

Florida Prenuptial Agreements: Why Severability Clauses Strengthen Prenups and Postnups

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 20:01:19 GMT

What Is a Severability Clause?

Couples entering into a Florida prenuptial agreement or Florida postnuptial agreement are often motivated by the same goal: creating clarity, fairness, and predictability around financial matters. A well-drafted marital agreement can protect premarital assets, address business ownership interests, clarify financial expectations during marriage, and reduce the risk of expensive litigation if a marriage later ends in divorce.

However, marital agreements may be reviewed by courts many years after they are signed. Over time, laws change, court decisions evolve, and certain provisions may be challenged. Because of this reality, experienced family law attorneys commonly include protective language designed to preserve the agreement if one provision becomes problematic. One of the most effective of these protections is the severability clause.

What Is a Severability Clause?

A severability clause is a provision stating that if one part of an agreement is found to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of the agreement will continue to remain in full force and effect. In practical terms, this allows a court to remove the problematic section while preserving the rest of the contract. Without such a clause, a court might question whether the entire agreement should be invalidated because of a single defective provision. For couples who invest time negotiating a fair and balanced marital agreement, a severability clause helps ensure that their planning is not undone by one disputed term.

Why Severability Clauses Matter in Florida Prenups

Florida prenuptial agreements often address multiple financial topics at once. These can include:

• Protecting premarital assets and inheritances

• Clarifying how property acquired during marriage may be treated

• Addressing business ownership interests

• Allocating responsibility for debts

• Establishing expectations about spousal support

Because these agreements cover many subjects, it is possible that a court could question one particular provision while still finding the rest of the agreement fair and reasonable. A severability clause helps ensure the entire contract does not fail because of a single disputed section.

Future-Proofing Marital Agreements

Prenuptial agreements are frequently drafted decades before they are ever examined in court. Over time, statutes may change, public policy may evolve, and appellate decisions may reinterpret how courts review marital agreements. A severability clause acts as a form of future - proofing. If a particular clause later conflicts with updated law or judicial interpretation, a court may strike that clause while leaving the remainder of the agreement intact.

Examples Where Severability May Protect a Prenup

• Provisions attempting to predetermine child custody

• Terms attempting to set future child support amounts

• Financial provisions later deemed unconscionable

• Clauses conflicting with evolving public policy

Example Severability Clause

“If any provision of this Agreement is determined to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, that provision shall be severed from the Agreement, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect to the maximum extent permitted by law.”

FAQ About Prenup Severability Clauses

Is a severability clause required in a Florida prenup?

No, but most experienced attorneys include one because it protects the rest of the agreement.

Do severability clauses appear in postnuptial agreements?

Yes. Postnuptial agreements commonly include them for the same protective reason.

Will a court always enforce the rest of the agreement?

Courts often look to the parties’ intent. A severability clause clearly states the intent that the agreement survive.

Why the Safest Prenuptial Agreements Are the Ones That Get Revised

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 18:01:55 GMT

The strongest prenuptial agreements usually go through a clear process of review, negotiation, and revision by the receiving party before signing.

One of the most persistent misconceptions about premarital agreements is that they should be presented as a finished document and simply signed. In reality, the safest and most durable prenups are rarely “take-it-or-leave-it” agreements. Want a prenup to be enforceable? Avoid a rushed, as-is signing.

The strongest prenuptial agreements usually go through a clear process of review, negotiation, and revision by the receiving party before signing.

A prenup is ultimately a contract . If it is ever reviewed by a court, the central questions will usually involve whether both parties entered the agreement knowingly, voluntarily, and without duress. Evidence that the receiving party actively participated in shaping the agreement can be one of the clearest indicators that these requirements were satisfied.

1. Revisions Demonstrate Genuine Understanding

When the receiving party reviews a prenuptial agreement and proposes revisions—whether minor clarifications or more substantive changes—it demonstrates something important: they understood the document well enough to engage with it.

Revisions can show that the receiving party:

-Carefully reviewed the agreement

-Identified provisions that required clarification or modification

-Communicated questions or concerns before signing

This process helps establish that the agreement was not simply presented and accepted blindly, but rather considered, understood, and actively evaluated.

2. Negotiation Shows the Agreement Was Voluntary

Courts evaluating prenuptial agreements often look for evidence that the agreement was entered voluntarily.

A documented revision process can demonstrate that:

-Both parties had the ability to influence the final terms

-The agreement evolved through discussion and negotiation

-The receiving party was not simply handed a non-negotiable document

Even modest revisions—such as wording changes, clarification of financial disclosures, or adjustments to specific provisions—can reinforce that the process was cooperative rather than coercive.

3. Revisions Help Dispel Claims of Duress

Claims of duress or pressure shortly before the wedding are among the most common challenges raised against prenups.

When an agreement shows evidence of revisions over time, those claims become much harder to sustain.

Multiple drafts and proposed changes suggest that the receiving party:

-Had meaningful time to review the agreement

-Had the opportunity to request modifications

-Participated in shaping the final terms

The more evidence there is of thoughtful revisions, the stronger the argument that the agreement was entered freely and intentionally.

4. Why Documented Revisions Matter

Just as important as revisions themselves is how those revisions are documented.

A clear written record—such as an email chain showing proposed changes and responses—can significantly strengthen a prenuptial agreement.

Documented revisions demonstrate that the receiving party:

-Reviewed the agreement carefully

-Proposed specific changes

-Received responses or adjustments from the drafting side

This written trail provides tangible evidence of participation and negotiation if the agreement is ever scrutinized later.

5. The Risk of Undocumented or Verbal Changes

Problems can arise when the receiving party requests revisions verbally and the proposing party simply edits the document without documenting the request.

When this happens, the sequence of events can appear very different from what actually occurred. Instead of showing a clear negotiation process, the record may suggest that the prenup was presented, revised by the drafting party, and then presented again for signature-resulting in bad optics if the chain isn’t clear.

In that scenario, the revision process can also unintentionally appear to compress the apparent review timeline, making it look as though the final version was delivered shortly before signing without adequate opportunity for careful review.

Maintaining a written record of proposed revisions helps prevent this problem by showing that the receiving party was actively involved in shaping the agreement over time.

6. Strong Prenups Are Built Through Process

The goal of a prenuptial agreement is not simply to produce a document. The goal is to create an agreement that clearly reflects the informed, voluntary participation of both partners.

A prenup that is reviewed, questioned, revised, and documented is typically far stronger than one that is quickly signed without discussion. The revision process demonstrates understanding, voluntariness, and meaningful engagement by both parties.

For couples who want their agreement to stand the test of time, careful review and documented revisions aren't obstacles; they're safeguards.

The Wedding Bouquet: A Legacy in Bloom

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 21:09:29 GMT

Your bouquet is more important than your cake - and even your ring.

In the hierarchy of wedding details, there is one element that quietly transcends trend, season, and even time itself: the wedding bouquet.

It is cradled in hands during the most photographed moments of the day. It appears in portraits, candids, flat-lays, ceremony shots, and reception imagery. Long after the cake has been sliced and the rings are tucked safely away, the bouquet remains—frozen in photographs, albums, heirloom frames, and now, digital archives that may last for centuries.

In many ways, the wedding bouquet is not simply an accessory. It is the most enduring visual symbol of a wedding day.

More Than Rings, More Than Cake

While wedding rings carry immense emotional weight, they are surprisingly underrepresented in wedding photography. Cakes, too, are fleeting—admired briefly, then gone.

The bouquet, however, is omnipresent.

It appears as you walk down the aisle. It rests beside you during vows. It is held during portraits meant to define an era of your life.

And unlike décor that fades into the background, the bouquet is personal. It moves with you. It tells a story without words.

For generations to come—perhaps even for your great-great-great grandchildren—the bouquet may be one of the clearest visual connections to who you were, how you loved, and how you chose to begin your marriage.

This is a possibility that prior generations simply did not have.

Flowers as Family Language

For many brides and grooms, floral choices are guided not by trends, but by lineage.

A grandmother’s garden roses. A mother’s love of lilies of the valley. A cultural or regional bloom that has appeared in family weddings for decades.

Flowers become a language of continuity—a way of saying I remember where I come from while stepping into something new.

One of the most beautiful modern traditions we see emerging is the intentional blending of family histories through florals. For example, incorporating the groom’s mother’s wedding flowers and the bride’s mother’s wedding flowers into a single reception centerpiece. Two stories. Two beginnings. One shared future.

It is a subtle, poetic gesture—but deeply powerful.

Why a Great Florist Is Not a Luxury—But a Necessity

Because flowers carry this weight—emotional, historical, and visual—choosing a florist should never be an afterthought.

A true floral artist does more than “make arrangements.”

They listen. They interpret. They translate emotion into form.

An experienced, high-quality florist understands proportion, photography, color theory, seasonality, and symbolism. They know how flowers will appear in natural light, candlelight, and archival images. They understand that what looks beautiful in person must also read beautifully on camera—for decades to come.

Most importantly, they understand you.

Your vision. Your family history. Your desire for something that feels both modern and timeless.

This level of understanding requires expertise, collaboration, and intention—and that is why a skilled florist is a necessary investment, not an indulgence.

A Bouquet That Outlives the Day

Long after your wedding day has passed, the bouquet will remain—pressed into memory, preserved in images, revisited in moments of nostalgia and storytelling.

“Who was she?” “What flowers did she carry?” “What mattered to them?”

Your bouquet may one day answer those questions.

So choose it with care. Choose it with meaning. And choose a florist who understands that they are not simply designing for a single day—but for a legacy.

Because flowers fade.

But what they represent never does.

Seasonality and Flower Design

Most importantly, a professional florist understands how to create wedding flowers that feel both modern and timeless, ensuring they remain beautiful not only on the wedding day, but in photographs for generations to come.

A Wedding Bouquet That Becomes a Legacy

Long after the wedding day ends, the bouquet lives on—in albums, framed prints, and digital archives that tell the story of who you were and what mattered to you.

Your wedding bouquet may one day answer questions like:

Who were they? What did they value? How did they begin their marriage?

When chosen with intention and crafted by a florist who truly understands your vision, wedding flowers become more than a design choice. They become a legacy in bloom.

How to Value Your Lemonade Stand for Prenup Disclosure

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 15:24:29 GMT

Regardless of what your business is, we offer the following information for valuing your business.

Regardless of what your business is, we offer the following information for valuing your business (unless you consult a professional appraiser). For the guidance in this document, all businesses are lemonade stands in honor of the early entrepreneurial spark in all of JustPrenups’ clients who are business owners.

JustPrenups has a guiding principle regarding business valuation: ask your CPA or tax preparer or financial advisor what the value of your business is, and ask your professional to provide that information to you in writing with supporting documentation.

Otherwise, for disclosure, you may determine which method of valuation fits your business best. Depending on your business, you may need to look for a method beyond what is listed below, as the list below is not exhaustive. Instead, this brief lists provides an overview to highlight common methods:

Earnings-Based Value: Look at what your lemonade stand makes each year. This method is known as either the “Seller’s Discretionary Earnings” or “EBITDA multiple.” Google and/or AI tools - for free - may help you to apply this method, and there may already be tools available on different business schools’ websites.

Market-Based Value: Compare it to other lemonade stands. Use real sales data from similar businesses in your industry. If other lemonade stands just like yours sold for $500, then yours is probably worth about the same — unless yours has an unusual recipe, appears on a great intersection, or gets extra sprinkles from a secret supplier.

Asset-Based Value: Add up what it owns. Total your all assets using their current fair market value (“FMV” – the amount you would likely receive if you sold the asset today), and then subtract the debts. This method is another way of saying, “What is all this stuff worth if we just sold the parts?”

Discounted Cash Flow (“DCF”): Ask how much profit the business will make later. Estimate future earnings and discount them back to today’s dollars. To clarify this one, if your lemonade stand will provide $10 in profit over the next five years, figure out how much that amount is worth today.

Cost-to-Create Method: Ask what would it cost to build your business from scratch. Total how much it would cost to rebuild or to replicate the business – and really think about all the moving parts of your business that would be replaced at today’s FMV cost: its assets, its infrastructure, its trademarks, its client list, and more, such as the cost of training personnel at the level to which they’re currently trained and paying them.

Let’s say your lemonade stand would cost $300 today if you needed to buy all the stuff and to teach someone to make lemonade like you do. You have that knowledge, and you know what to buy and where to go. What might your stand be worth to someone starting from nothing? In other words, what would it take to make another business just like this business?

To summarize each of the methods above:

Earnings show how much money you make.
Assets show what you own.
Market comps show what others are paying.
Future cash flow shows what someone might earn later.
Build-from-scratch cost shows what it would take to start fresh.

Businesses are like people — they can be complicated and appear differently from different angles. You may need to consider if just one method will be sufficiently thorough for your type of business in order to provide a reliable picture of your business’ current worth.

Be able to explain why you chose a particular valuation method over others, such as why a given method is a good fit for a certain industry.

Remember why you’re valuing this business in the first place.

Ask yourself: Would a judge who has been asked to set aside my Prenuptial Agreement evaluate my disclosure and conclude that I provided an accurate snapshot of my business’ financial standing and its value?

Would a judge find the information I provided about this business, including how I valued it (i.e., the method chosen for valuation), to be a sufficient basis for my partner to say, “I understand the value of this business and still choose to execute the Agreement that changes my right to the growth of this business”?

Letting Go with Grace: How to Handle the Disposal of a Wedding Ring After a Broken Engagement

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 20:38:27 GMT

There is no single “correct” way to dispose of a wedding ring after a broken engagement.

A broken engagement is a uniquely painful loss. It carries not only the grief of a relationship ending, but also the unraveling of imagined futures, shared plans, and public promises. Few objects symbolize that loss as powerfully as the engagement ring. Once a token of love and intention, it can quickly become a heavy reminder of disappointment or betrayal. Deciding what to do with that ring is not merely a financial choice—it is an emotional one, and it deserves care, intention, and respect for your own healing.

There is no single “correct” way to dispose of a wedding ring after a broken engagement. The right approach is the one that allows you to reclaim your sense of agency, dignity, and forward momentum. Whether you choose to sell it, repurpose it, or give its value new meaning through charity, the process can become a meaningful ritual of closure rather than a quiet, unresolved ache.

First: Give Yourself Permission to Pause

Before making any decisions, allow yourself time. You do not need to act immediately, and you are not obligated to keep or discard the ring on anyone else’s timeline. Some women find relief in putting the ring away for several months, letting the rawness fade before revisiting the question with clearer eyes.

Emotionally, it helps to separate the ring’s monetary value from its symbolic weight. The ring is not the relationship, nor is it a verdict on your worth, judgment, or future happiness. It is simply an object—one that you now get to redefine.

Practical Options for Disposing of the Ring

Once you feel ready, there are several practical paths you can consider:

1. Selling the Ring

Selling the ring—through a jeweler, online marketplace, or auction house—can feel empowering. It transforms something painful into a tangible resource that can support your next chapter. Be aware that resale values are often lower than retail prices, but the emotional return may outweigh the financial one.

2. Redesigning or Repurposing

Some women choose to reset the stone into a new piece of jewelry, such as a pendant or right-hand ring, symbolizing self-love or personal growth. This option is best suited for those who no longer associate the stone itself with pain, but rather with resilience.

3. Donating or Gifting the Ring Itself

In rare cases, donating the ring to a charity auction or gifting it to a cause you care deeply about can feel like the most meaningful closure—turning heartbreak into hope for someone else.

Creating a Ring Farewell Ceremony with Friends

One of the most healing approaches is to mark the moment intentionally, rather than letting it slip by unacknowledged. A ring disposal ceremony with close girlfriends and would-be bridesmaids can be a powerful act of solidarity, love, and renewal.

Here are some thoughtful ideas:

A “Release Night” Gathering

Host a small, intimate evening with trusted friends, even those friends that would have been included in the wedding party. Light candles, share wine or tea, and allow space for storytelling—both the pain and the gratitude for lessons learned. You might write a letter to your former partner or to your past self, then symbolically release it by tearing it up or safely burning it.

A Champagne Send-Off

If humor and lightness feel more healing, lean into celebration. Dress up, play music, toast to resilience, and officially announce your decision about the ring—whether selling it, donating the proceeds, or transforming it. Laughter can coexist with grief, and joy can mark survival.

A Nature-Based Ritual

Some women find comfort outdoors. A walk on the beach, a hike, or a garden gathering can provide grounding. Holding the ring one last time, you might say a few words of closure before placing it into a box to be sold or donated later—symbolizing that you are returning the future you were promised back to the universe.

Reclaiming the Bridal Party

Invite your would-be bridesmaids and reframe the relationship: not as a bridal party that never was, but as a circle of women who stood by you when it mattered. This acknowledgment often deepens bonds rather than letting the engagement’s end quietly dissolve them.

Donating the Proceeds: Turning Loss into Purpose

For many women, donating the proceeds from selling the ring brings the deepest sense of meaning. It reframes the narrative from “this ended badly” to “this still created good.”

Here are categories of charities that often resonate with jilted brides:

Women’s Empowerment and Support Organizations

Donating to shelters for women experiencing domestic violence, organizations that support single mothers, or programs focused on women’s education and leadership can feel especially fitting—redirecting resources toward independence and strength.

Mental Health and Grief Support Charities

Heartbreak is a form of grief. Supporting organizations that provide counseling, crisis intervention, or mental health access honors the emotional reality of what you endured.

Health and Medical Research Foundations

Many women choose charities connected to breast cancer research, reproductive health, or chronic illness—causes that protect futures rather than promises.

Children and Youth Charities

Donations to organizations supporting foster care, education access, or childhood nutrition can feel hopeful and forward-looking, symbolizing belief in new beginnings.

A Cause That Reflects Your Values, Not His

Importantly, choose a charity that aligns with your identity—not one connected to your former partner or shared life. This is about reclaiming your values as an individual.

Redefining the Story You Tell Yourself

Perhaps the most important part of disposing of a wedding ring after a broken engagement is the internal narrative you choose. This is not a story of failure or wasted time. It is a story of discernment, courage, and self-respect. You listened when something wasn’t right. You chose honesty over illusion.

By handling the ring with intention—whether through ceremony, charity, or celebration—you close one chapter with dignity and open space for something healthier, truer, and more aligned.

The ring may no longer represent a wedding, but it can still represent transformation. And that, too, is worth honoring.

From Vision to Vows: Planning a Wedding That Fits Your Style

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 21:05:31 GMT

Planning a wedding often starts with excitement and quickly meets reality: opinions, budgets, and endless options. This article is for engaged couples who want clarity without losing the heart of what they’re building. The goal is simple—make decisions that reflect who you are together, not what a checklist tells you to be.

Core Points:

● Style clarity makes every decision easier later

● Budget choices shape guest experience more than décor

● Vendors should support your vision, not override it

● Timelines protect joy as much as logistics

● Personal moments matter more than perfection

Starting With the Story You’re Telling

Before venues or colors enter the conversation, define the feeling you want the day to carry. Is it intimate and slow, or loud and celebratory? When couples agree on the emotional tone first, decisions stop feeling reactive and start feeling aligned.

This shared vision becomes your filter . If something doesn’t fit the story you’re telling, it doesn’t belong—no matter how popular it is.

Budget Choices That Protect What Matters

Money conversations can be uncomfortable, but they’re also revealing. A thoughtful budget isn’t about cutting joy; it’s about choosing where joy shows up. Some couples value food and music above all else, while others prioritize photography or a meaningful location.

Before allocating numbers, talk honestly about what you’ll remember in ten years. That perspective keeps spending intentional instead of emotional.

Design Decisions That Reflect Personality

Design is where your style becomes visible. Colors, textures, attire, and florals all signal who you are as a couple. The most memorable weddings don’t chase trends—they feel cohesive and sincere.

Use this moment to decide where you want simplicity and where you want drama. Balance is what keeps the day from feeling overdesigned or underwhelming.

Choosing the Right People to Work With

Vendors are collaborators, not just service providers. The best ones listen carefully and ask thoughtful questions instead of pushing prepackaged ideas. Chemistry matters here more than credentials alone.

Before signing contracts, make sure each vendor understands not just what you want, but why you want it. That understanding shows up in the final result.

A Planning Flow That Keeps You Grounded

This approach helps couples move forward without feeling scattered:

● Clarify the emotional tone you want guests to feel

● Decide what deserves the biggest share of the budget

● Lock in the venue before finalizing design details

● Choose vendors who align with your communication style

● Build a timeline that includes rest, not just tasks

Capturing Your Journey as a Couple

One powerful way to personalize your celebration is by creating a short video that traces your relationship—from the first date to the proposal. Played at the reception, it gives guests context for what they’re celebrating and turns shared history into a collective moment. Old photos, casual clips, and voice notes can all come together into something meaningful. This isn’t about polish; it’s about honesty and connection.

To elevate the final result, you can refine lighting, color, and stability using video effects in Premiere Pro , which also make it easy to remove distractions and enhance visual flow.

How Timing Shapes the Entire Experience

A realistic timeline protects your energy. When everything is rushed, even beautiful moments blur together. When there’s breathing room , you actually experience the day you planned.

Build in transition time. It’s not wasted—it’s where laughter, calm, and presence live.

Comparing Big Decisions

Questions Couples Ask Before Finalizing Plans

Here are some questions couples ask who want reassurance they’re on the right track:

Is it okay if our wedding doesn’t follow traditions?

Absolutely. Traditions are optional, not obligations, and they only add value if they resonate with you. Many couples create new rituals that feel more authentic. Guests usually appreciate sincerity over formality.

How far in advance should we book vendors?

High-demand vendors often book 9–12 months out, especially for peak dates . Securing key vendors early reduces stress later. It also gives you more creative flexibility.

What if our families want different things?

Listen respectfully, but remember the day represents your partnership. Clear communication early helps manage expectations. Boundaries protect relationships long-term.

Should we plan every moment of the day?

Structure is helpful, but overplanning can drain spontaneity. Leave room for unscripted moments. Those often become the most meaningful memories.

How do we avoid decision fatigue?

Make foundational decisions early, then let them guide smaller choices. Limit how many opinions you invite into the process. Simplicity is a strategy, not a compromise.

Bringing It All Together

A wedding that fits your style isn’t about perfection—it’s about coherence. When your values guide decisions, the day feels grounded and intentional. Guests sense that alignment immediately. In the end, the most successful weddings are the ones where couples recognize themselves in every moment.

About the Author

Cindy Aldridge is the creator of OurDogFriends.org , a website advocating for the love and ownership of dogs. She believes that dogs truly are our best friends and wants to see less dogs in shelters and more in loving homes.

Who should have an anti-adultery clause in their prenuptial agreement?

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 19:00:14 GMT

Even if you’re not the one who cheated, the wrong anti-adultery clause can work against you.

An anti-adultery clause? In one of our legal products? You won’t find an anti-adultery clause in the majority of our prenuptial agreements and postnuptial agreements. As an experienced divorce attorney, JustPrenups knows that anti-adultery clauses lead to complicated and expensive litigation that is often just as painful as the infidelity. They lengthen divorce proceedings and seldom provide the hurt, faithful partner with closure.

JustPrenups offers only one anti-adultery clause, a version that is acceptable because it does not introduce burdensome requirements for defining “adultery” and for proving that adultery occurred. It’s still not for everyone. If a couple cannot have children or is past the age of having children, then they do not need our anti-adultery clause.

But if either of you can have children (i.e., you’re in your childbearing years and capable of having children), then yes, you may need our singularly acceptable anti-adultery clause.

Why does JustPrenups dislike most anti-adultery clauses? Because they’re expensive and undermine all our hard work to create a prenup that keeps you OUT of court.

Being cheated on is a painful, biting betrayal. But anti-adultery clauses are contrary to one of the primary reasons for a prenup: to save you money on attorney fees and reduce the overall cost of divorce litigation. If you try to enforce an anti-adultery clause in divorce court, you’ll open the door to an expensive dispute. The adultery issues must be mediated or, most likely, handled by a judge. That means open your wallet. Some of the most expensive professionals will now be on your personal divorce payroll.

And what about all the measures you took to create the prenup to bypass attorneys, judges, and the family law system? You have now invited all those people and issues back into your life through your prenup via the anti-adultery clause. There will be court fees and time missed from work. Mediators will have their own price tags. The total fee for your attorney will depend on the number of hours required, which isn’t necessarily predictable or guaranteed, and is often driven by your spouse’s attorney, who will not be above making the fight as expensive for you as possible.

Why does JustPrenups dislike most anti-adultery clauses? Because even if you can afford the fight, your anti-adultery clause may still be ineffective…or backfire.

Even if you’re not the one who cheated, an anti-adultery clause can work against you.

You might think that, as the betrayed spouse, there will be a predictable outcome in court, that the judge will sympathize and be hostile to your soon-to-be ex. But we don’t know the life experiences of the judge or mediator. They may have strong feelings about adultery. Maybe the judge is an adulterer or was wrongly accused of cheating. You cannot assume that everyone involved in the divorce court process will empathize with you and feel the same about the “karma” that you want to happen. This disappointment can compound the pain of a spouse’s infidelity.

How will you define adultery in court?

Adultery is analytically problematic. It’s hard to define, even though the meaning may seem obvious. Is your spouse cheating if they regularly send naughty messages to a paid model through an online platform? Is physical affection without sex still cheating? Are these enough to trigger the anti-adultery clause in your prenup? And don’t forget that the judge may have a very different definition from yours.

Let’s consider another scenario. Your husband was emotionally but not physically intimate with a mistress, diverting his emotional energy, quality time, and effort from the marriage. Your judge may not consider an emotional affair as adultery, even though you paid the price of becoming alienated from your husband because of his relationship choices outside the marriage.

To some, an emotional affair is the most painful kind of adultery because emotional attachment to another person is tough to overcome. But another person might see their wife’s one-night affair during a business trip as worse because it was only sexual. Someone else might consider texting, emailing, and calling an ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend every week for a year an even uglier form of adultery, one more likely to erode a marital bond, even though they never met in person.

All of these scenarios hurt the faithful partner. While a judge may acknowledge the faithful partner’s pain, the judge may also believe that enforcing a basic anti-adultery clause is not merited. While your spouse may, in fact, be a cheater, and while their behavior may be wholly unjustifiable, your litigation results may not reflect what is self-evident in your experience.

How will you prove adultery in court?

Let’s assume you’ve already cleared the first hurdle: defining “adultery.” The next question is the real problem—what actually counts as convincing proof of adultery in court?

Hotel receipts? Jewelry? Flowers?

If you’ve seen Heartburn—based on Nora Ephron’s novel—you know Meryl Streep’s character found those items pretty persuasive. And emotionally, she was absolutely right. Legally? Not so much.

In a courtroom, a flower receipt doesn’t prove anything. Neither does a hotel bill. Even jewelry, standing alone, won’t cut it. Such receipts are insufficient to trigger or enforce a punitive prenuptial provision.

Movies usually gloss over this part, but litigation is allergic to assumptions. The other side always gets a say, and alternative explanations matter. Business trips generate hotel receipts. Social outings can, too—especially if alcohol is involved. People buy flowers and jewelry for relatives, coworkers, friends, or themselves. A receipt shows a purchase, not infidelity. Quite often, all you really have is that uneasy gut feeling that something’s off.

So, what about suggestive texts? Flirty messages? Provocative photos?

Same problem. Texts and images, by themselves, usually don’t prove adultery. What looks racy or inappropriate to you may strike a judge as banal, ambiguous, or irrelevant. This is deeply subjective, and your judge doesn’t live inside your marriage.

And that’s the hardest part. As a spouse, you know your partner’s baseline. You know what’s normal for them—their habits, tone, grooming, schedule, energy, even their smell. You notice the small deviations immediately. But your judge doesn’t have that history or context. A photo that screams “this is not normal” to you may look entirely unremarkable to someone seeing it for the first time. Your lived intuition, however accurate, isn’t evidence.

Bottom line: receipts, vibes, behavioral changes, and suspicions aren’t enough to enforce even a basic anti-adultery clause in a prenup.

If you want proof that actually moves the needle, you usually need more—and that almost always means hiring a private investigator. That’s never been cheap, and inflation hasn’t helped. You don’t know how many hours it will take, whether anything conclusive will be found, or whether the evidence will ultimately be persuasive.

And here’s the irony: once you’re paying a private investigator, you’ve added yet another expensive professional to your divorce tab—undercutting one of the main reasons people sign prenups in the first place. Saving time and money.

If You Take the Time and Pay the Costs of Proving Adultery, Will You Get Paid?

Maybe not. Most anti-adultery clauses give an alimony-based consequence for infidelity. A person might be required to pay more alimony, or receive less, if they were the adulterer. The problem with that framework is enforceability. If the court determines a person has no ability to pay alimony, the court will not enforce any obligation that is beyond an ability to pay, even if related to adultery and required under a prenup. You will have spent months or years paying for lawyers, a private investigator, and possibly a forensic computer expert. You proved the adultery. But you still won’t get paid, and the adulterer still isn’t “punished.”

Is there no Anti-Adultery Clause that JustPrenups Likes?

From JustPrenups' perspective, there is one exception to our general opposition to anti-adultery clauses. It requires specific circumstances and meticulous drafting. We call it our SAFE clause , which stands for Secure Adultery Finances Exception clause.

Want to learn about the SAFE clause and how we draft it? See our post, The SAFE Clause: The Only Worthwhile Anti-Adultery Clause.

The SAFE Clause: The Only Worthwhile Anti-Adultery Clause

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:58:44 GMT

The SAFE clause is the only anti-adultery provision that JustPrenups considers effective, worthwhile, and enforceable—under the right circumstances.

SAFE stands for Secure Adultery Finances Exception, and there’s a reason we built it this way. If you’ve already read our prior post on why most anti-adultery clauses fail, you know the problem: defining adultery is messy, proving it is harder, and enforcing it often costs more than it’s worth. The SAFE clause exists to work around those realities rather than fight them.

Should You Include a SAFE Clause?

As a general rule, most couples should avoid anti-adultery clauses altogether. They tend to add time, expense, and uncertainty to divorce proceedings—the exact opposite of what a prenup is supposed to do. Even when one spouse knows the truth, proving adultery in court is another matter entirely.

That said, some couples are insistent. They know they’ll feel more secure with some form of protection in place. If that’s you, there’s one threshold question you need to answer first:

Are you a couple of child-bearing age and capable of having children? If the answer is no, the SAFE clause won’t add meaningful value to your prenup. But if the answer is yes, this clause may be a good fit—if you understand how it works and why it’s structured the way it is.

What the SAFE Clause Actually Does

The SAFE clause is not about policing adult behavior. It’s about protecting children and preserving family resources.

Specifically, it addresses children born outside the marriage and the financial impact that can have on children of the marriage. At its core, the clause says something like this:

If, during the marriage, one spouse has a child with someone other than their spouse within ten (10) months of either party filing for divorce, that child is presumed to be the result of an adulterous relationship. As a result, the unfaithful spouse will receive only ___% of the marital assets and/or assume ___% of the marital liabilities.

The ten-month window can be adjusted. The asset split can be adjusted. The mechanics are flexible.

The point is simple: if adultery produces a child, the financial consequences shift.

Why This Isn’t “Punitive”

At first glance, this may feel punitive. But the goal isn’t punishment, it’s resource preservation.

There is a finite pool of marital assets. Those assets fund alimony, support children of the marriage, and—under the law—must also support children born outside the marriage. When a third child enters the picture, those resources get stretched thinner. And the people who usually pay the price are the children of the marriage.

Let’s start with a baseline scenario to illustrate:

1. Arthur and Betty are married and have one daughter, Cheryl.

2. Together, they build substantial assets through careful investing and saving.

3. They divorced simply because they grew apart. There was no adultery.

4. Arthur receives 50% of the marital assets through the divorce.

5. Betty receives 50% of the marital assets through the divorce.

6. When Arthur dies, Cheryl inherits Arthur’s 50%.

7. When Betty dies, Cheryl inherits Betty’s 50%.

Result: everything Arthur and Betty built together ultimately goes to Cheryl, precisely as intended.

Now, Add a Child Born Outside the Marriage

Let’s introduce two legal facts:

• A child born outside the marriage is entitled to child support.

• That child has inheritance rights.

With that in mind:

1. Arthur and Betty are married and have one daughter, Cheryl.

2. They build significant marital assets together.

3. Betty has an affair with another man.

4. Betty has a child, Delilah, with the other man.

5. Arthur and Betty divorce.

6. Arthur gets 50% of the marital assets through the divorce.

7. Betty gets 50% of the marital assets through the divorce.

8. Betty must use part of her share to support Delilah.

9. When Arthur dies, Cheryl inherits Arthur’s assets.

10. When Betty dies, Cheryl and Delilah split Betty’s assets equally.

Result: The economic hit lands hardest on Cheryl.

Arthur had no say in the affair. Cheryl had no say in the affair. Yet the assets Arthur and Betty built together—intended for Cheryl—are permanently reduced to support a child born outside the marriage.

Delilah isn’t at fault either. She can’t be disinherited or punished for circumstances she didn’t choose. But that doesn’t change the financial reality.

How the SAFE Clause Fixes This

A properly drafted SAFE clause changes the divorce math before that damage occurs.

In this scenario, the clause might provide that Arthur—the non-cheating spouse—receives 75% of the marital assets. That allows Cheryl’s expected inheritance to remain intact through Arthur, while still ensuring Delilah receives the support and inheritance the law requires.

No prenup can fix the emotional fallout of adultery, especially when it creates a half-sibling. But a prenup can prevent avoidable financial harm to the children of the marriage.

Why a SAFE Clause is Worthwhile When Other Clauses Are Not

The SAFE clause sidesteps the three biggest problems with traditional anti-adultery provisions:

• Definition: No debates about what counts as cheating.

• Proof: No reliance on receipts, texts, or subjective interpretations.

• Ability to Pay: No court determination of ability to pay alimony because the SAFE clause is marital asset-based, not alimony-based.

A child conceived and born outside the marriage is an objective, legally recognized fact. That makes the clause far easier and less costly to enforce than any behavior-based alternative. In addition, the SAFE clause triggers a change in the division of marital assets, not an alimony recalculation. So, there is no judicial “ability to pay” analysis that makes many alimony-based anti-adultery clauses unenforceable or uncollectible.

That said, drafting a comprehensive SAFE clause correctly is very technical, and pitfalls must be avoided. It needs to be done carefully to be enforceable and fair—but when done right, it’s the rare anti-adultery clause that can actually deliver while remaining consistent with what couples want from a prenup.

Financial Tips for Newlyweds: Building a Money Life That Lasts

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 16:02:03 GMT

Newlyweds face a joyful—and sometimes awkward—shift: two financial histories become one shared future. Whether you’re merging accounts or just calendars, the first year of marriage is the best moment to align money habits, expectations, and goals so finances support your relationship instead of stressing it.

In a Few Minutes, Here’s the Big Picture

Money works best in marriage when it’s visible, intentional, and agreed upon. Talk early, plan simply, protect each other, and revisit decisions as life changes. You don’t need perfection—just a shared system you both understand.

Start With Openness (Yes, All of It)

Before spreadsheets, lead with honesty . Share credit scores, debts, assets, spending quirks, and money fears. This isn’t a confession; it’s a baseline.

Why it matters: surprises erode trust, while clarity builds teamwork.

Conversation starters (pick one tonight):

● “What money habit are you proud of?”

● “What financial mistake taught you the most?”

● “What does ‘financial security’ feel like to you?”

Combining Finances: Choose Your Model

There’s no single “right” setup . What matters is clarity and consent.

● Fully combined: joint checking/savings, shared cards

● Hybrid: joint account for bills + personal accounts for fun money

● Mostly separate: individual accounts with a joint bill account

Agree on who pays what , how much autonomy you want , and how you’ll review things together .

The Budget That Doesn’t Feel Like a Diet

A budget should reflect your life, not punish it. Keep it simple and revisit it monthly .

A Quick How-To

List fixed costs (rent/mortgage, insurance, utilities).
Set savings goals first (emergency fund, retirement).
Decide on guilt-free spending categories.
Track together for 30 days.
Adjust—then automate.

Savings That Grow With You

Aim for an emergency fund of 3–6 months of essentials . Automate transfers on payday so saving happens quietly. As income rises, increase retirement contributions and revisit long-term goals like a home, travel, or kids.

Insurance Check: Protect What You’re Building

Marriage changes insurance needs . Review policies within the first few months.

● Health: compare employer plans; one may be better for both.

● Auto: bundling can reduce premiums.

● Renters/Homeowners: inexpensive protection with big upside.

● Life: especially important if one income supports the other.

● Disability: often overlooked, but crucial for income protection.

Why a Prenup Is a Smart, Caring Move

A prenuptial agreement isn’t about distrust; it’s about clarity. It outlines how assets, debts, and future earnings are handled if life takes an unexpected turn. Prenups can protect inheritances, businesses, and even outline how finances are managed during marriage. Drafting one with a professional encourages transparent conversations now—when decisions are easier and emotions are calm.

A Snapshot of Shared Money Decisions

Growing Your Earning Power Together

Long-term security isn’t only about spending less—it’s also about earning more. Returning to school for an advanced degree can expand opportunities, increase confidence, and raise lifetime income. A bachelor's in business administration can build practical skills in accounting, business, communications, or management that apply across industries. And earning an online degree makes it easier to keep working while you learn, balancing career growth with shared responsibilities.

One Helpful Resource Worth Bookmarking

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau offers a plain-English guide to money and relationships, including worksheets and conversation prompts for couples.

FAQs

Should we close old accounts?
Not necessarily. Keep what works, but simplify to avoid confusion.

How often should we talk money?
Short monthly check-ins beat rare, intense talks.

What if we disagree on spending?
Agree on a “no-questions-asked” personal allowance and align on big goals.

Do we need a financial advisor?
Helpful for complex situations, but not required to start strong.

A Short Closing Thought

Money doesn’t make a marriage—but it can strain one if left unmanaged. Start with honesty, choose systems that fit your values, and protect each other as you grow. Small, shared decisions today create stability you’ll feel for decades.

About the Author

Building a Happy, Healthy Life Together: A Newlywed Playbook

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 17:34:40 GMT

The wedding is one day; the marriage is the main event. Build it like a great home—on purpose, with strong foundations, and room to grow. Here’s a practical blueprint you can actually use.

Start with a shared picture of “good”

Set aside one hour to capture your five-year hopes in key categories: home, work, family, faith, friendships, travel, and finances. Circle what overlaps, note trade-offs, and pick one 90-day goal you’ll pursue together. Clarity reduces friction later.

Design simple rhythms you’ll keep

Daily five-minute check-in: one win, one worry, one ask
Weekly alignment hour: calendars, money, chores, and a small celebration
Monthly mini-retreat: a walk or coffee date to review what’s working and what needs a tweak

Rituals make the relationship feel steady—even when life gets loud.

Build money harmony without drama

Choose a straightforward system: one joint account for shared costs, two personal accounts for autonomy, and automatic savings the day income arrives. Choose a tool like PocketGuard to help you both stay on track. Add a 15-minute time slot (“Finances on Friday” or “Money Monday”) to pay bills, review spending, and plan meals. The goal is calm predictability, not perfection.

Divide home ops by strengths, not stereotypes

Make a living checklist for recurring tasks (meals, laundry, trash, pet care, car maintenance). Run a 10-minute evening reset and a 20-minute weekend tidy so mess never becomes a weekend-sized problem. F air, visible systems prevent resentment.

Protect your health as a team sport

A healthier couple argues less and enjoys more. Pick two anchor habits to do together (an evening walk and a Sunday cook-up, for example). Aim for 150 minutes of movement per week across the two of you, keep water visible, and commit to a phone-free wind-down most nights. Adding sport watches to the mix can make it easier to stay on top of things. Popular devices like FitBit and Apple Watch offer reminders and movement tracking, plus you can opt for versions with things like fall protection and sleep tracking.

Communicate like collaborators, not competitors

Use “state, story, ask”: state the facts, share the story you’re telling yourself, make a clear request. Mirror first, fix second. When conflict spikes, agree to a pause-and-return window (e.g., 20 minutes) and repair within 24 hours. Repair beats perfection.

Grow together through a shared venture

Pursuing a small business or passion project strengthens teamwork, clarifies roles, and creates shared wins. Start with a two-week pilot and one clear outcome. When it’s time to formalize, an all-in-one platform like ZenBusiness can reduce admin overhead so you can focus on building together. Relationship benefits of using a platform that handles formation and routine paperwork:

Less stress and fewer dropped balls free up emotional bandwidth for each other
Clear roles (ops, finances, marketing) improve communication and accountability
Professional setup boosts confidence, making goals feel real and shared
Time reclaimed from filings and compliance turns into date nights—or product improvements

Set boundaries that protect connection

Decide on holiday rotations with the extended fam, visiting rhythms, and what gets posted online. Establish device-free spaces (dinner, bedroom) and a “check with you” dollar threshold. Boundaries are pro-relationship; they keep energy where it matters.

Why a Prenup Can Strengthen Your Marriage

A prenup isn’t about expecting the worst—it’s about clarity, honesty, and protecting both partners as you build a life together. A service like JustPrenups can help you document expectations before emotions or emergencies get in the way.

Sets clear agreements on savings, debt, business ownership, and future income
Protects family assets or inheritances and can support estate-planning goals
Reduces conflict and legal costs if life takes a turn (divorce, disability, death
Clarifies responsibilities (e.g., housing, large purchases) and how you’ll make big money decisions
Helps both partners feel secure, which makes it easier to plan long-term

Keep friendship, fun, and faith (or values) in the frame

Guard one “us night” and one “friend night” weekly. Start two small traditions now (first-Saturday pancakes, Friday “high-low-learned”). Name the values your home will reflect—hospitality, generosity, growth—and choose one simple habit for each.

Common friction points and quick fixes

A 30-day jumpstart plan

Week 1: Write your five-year picture and pick one 90-day goal
Week 2: Set up the money system and your weekly alignment hour
Week 3: Launch a tiny passion-project pilot with a clear finish line
Week 4: Start two traditions and schedule your next mini-retreat

Quick FAQs

How do we keep this from turning into another to-do list?
Keep moves tiny and repeatable. If a habit takes more than 10 minutes, shrink it.

What if one of us is more organized?
Let the organized partner design the system* ; let the other test it and remove friction. Co-own the process, not just the tasks.

How do we know a shared venture is a good idea?
Run a two-week test with a single deliverable. If you ship on time and still like each other, go to a 60-day pilot. If not, celebrate the learning and retire the idea gracefully.

*Tip: EasyClosets offers a design tool that allows you to test run purpose-dependent customization of your space, making the organization process simpler for everyone.

Closing thoughts

A great marriage is built from small, kind habits repeated on purpose. Share a clear picture of the life you want, keep your rhythms lightweight and steady, and make something meaningful together—whether that’s a Sunday ritual, a cozy home, or a tiny business. Do the basics brilliantly and you’ll create a partnership that feels like home and a future you can’t wait to grow into.

Battle-proof Your Business Before the Divorce

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 00:18:01 GMT

A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can save your business. Consider two dry cleaners, Ricky and Fred. Both thought they would be married to their wives until “death do they part.” Unfortunately, they both ended up divorced. Ricky walked out of divorce court personally and professionally ruined. Fred, while emotionally drained, was able to maintain and grow his successful business. Why the different outcomes?

Ricky’s Story

Ricky owned a dry cleaning business with Lucy, his wife of 19 years. Ricky was in charge of all aspects of the business, but Lucy did manage the company’s payroll and vendors part-time. Occasionally, she worked the front counter. For the most part, Lucy raised the children and cared for her elderly parents.

When they decided to divorce, Ricky and Lucy were still civil and wanted their divorce to be amicable. Ricky and Lucy worked together, without lawyers, to craft a plan for sharing time with their teenage sons, and for sharing the family’s expenses. They also agreed to sell their house after their youngest son graduated high school.

After a few months, and at the urging of a well-intentioned friend, Lucy hired a lawyer to write up the couples’ plan. Lucy’s main goal was to make sure the divorce ended fairly for her children. The lawyer, however, believed that since any small business owner could hide income, assets, or a company’s true value, then Ricky must be doing that too. Even though Lucy had a base of knowledge of the business’s finances, she trusted her lawyer and figured that he knew better. So, she agreed to his “scorched earth” strategy to protect her children.

What is a “scorched earth strategy”? This is a common tactic to squeeze a business owner into a large and early settlement. The lawyer hires an accountant, and they go after every scrap of information and document pertaining to the company’s assets and liabilities, and they question it all—every argument and angle of attack is fair game. Much of the cost of providing the information and documents, and defending business decisions, must be paid by the business. Scared and desperate, Ricky lawyered up too. Unfortunately, Ricky’s lawyer couldn’t advise him on the settlement terms proposed by Lucy’s lawyer without conducting his own analysis of the company’s voluminous records. Much of the paper work involved in operating a dry cleaning business was foreign to him, and the stringent environmental regulations and reporting was overwhelming. Ricky’s lawyer had to hire his own accountant to help value the business for the divorce. Ricky and Lucy were now far from civil with one another, and the mud began to fly.

Faced with dueling accountants, complicated and conflicting arguments about the business’s finances and value, and accusations against Ricky of financial wrongdoing, the family court judge appointed an independent forensic accountant to advise the court. The independent accountant saw that the business, which was the couple’s biggest asset, was crumbling because the ugly divorce was keeping Ricky from focusing on the business. The accountant was also worried about the accusations of financial wrongdoing by Ricky. So, on the independent accountant’s recommendation, the court appointed a receiver to operate and protect the dry cleaning business. Ricky and Lucy were now paying six different professionals, and trial was still months away.

The receiver discovered that the company’s records did not comply with dry cleaning waste disposal regulations, and reported the non-compliance to government authorities. Ricky and Lucy blamed each other for the missing paperwork, and the sour relationship between them stalled and ultimately prevented joint efforts at an amnesty program and damage control.

The business began to accrue daily statutory fines, employees were laid off, debts mounted, and the business eventually shut its doors while Ricky and Lucy continued to fight in divorce court. A year later, with no business to provide income for Ricky or Lucy, Ricky agreed to settle by paying Lucy more than half of his share of the house. Lucy accepted the offer, even though it was smaller then what she expected originally, because her share of the house was pledged to pay her lawyer’s fees.

Fred’s Story

Fred was married to Ethel for 22 years, and they have a daughter. Like Ricky and Lucy, Fred ran the business while Ethel was involved part-time in just certain aspects. But unlike Ricky and Lucy, when Fred bought his dry cleaning business nine years earlier, Fred and Ethel signed a postnuptial agreement to protect each other in case of divorce. The attorney-drafted agreement laid out a strict structure for evaluating and dividing the business, and for determining Fred’s true income for spousal and child support calculations. It identified and limited the financial information and documents that the business would have to disclose. It also required that the couple use a single neutral accountant (who would be paid from marital property and not by the company), to gather and evaluate that financial information and documentation.

Early in the divorce, Ethel agreed that the postnuptial agreement was valid. She waived any right to ask the court to force the company to disclose more information or documents than described in the postnuptial agreement. This entitled Ethel to an immediate, fair, and higher award of support, thanks to a provision that she and Fred put in the agreement to encourage a quick resolution. Within a month, Fred and Ethel’s divorce was finalized, with minimal attorneys’ and accountant fees, and with no interference or intrusion into the dry cleaning business or operations.

How could two similarly situated businesses and families leave divorce court with such different results? The first story is horrifying, but exceedingly common. Many states have onerous disclosure requirements that unnecessarily burden the time and finances of a small business. Unscrupulous divorce lawyers are trained to hone in and target a business owner’s fear of having the business’s confidential and financial information exposed to the world, to induce an early and usually unfair settlement. Fair and careful divorce lawyers will also want extensive company records, because they fear being liable for giving bad advice if they make recommendations without investigating the whole picture themselves. Either way, good lawyer or a bad one, smart judge or not, a case involving a small business can be very costly.

The best way to avoid being a Ricky, is to get a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement like Fred. A good prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can render the most intrusive and damaging financial disclosures unnecessary, and can limit or attribute the related costs away from the business. In some situations, as shown above, they can save the business itself. If Ricky had a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement in place, maybe a receiver would not have been necessary, and Ricky and Lucy could have resolved the business’s regulatory problems confidentially without going out of business.

Ricky and Fred were not wrong to believe in their marriages. A life-long commitment is not fanciful; it is a hopeful and beautiful goal. Most couples think they will reach that goal and that other couples will fill our country’s depressing divorce statistics. But consider this, we buy life insurance, install security systems, and wear seat belts “just in case.” They give us security even if we think that odds will always be in our favor. A careful and thorough prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can provide you, your spouse, and your business with security that all will be protected in a divorce, and that years of building a life and a business will not be burned to the ground.

Chantale Suttle is the Managing Attorney and Founder of DADvocacy™ Law Firm, which is headquartered in Miami, Florida. She has been in the exclusive practice of family law for over 21 years and has served countless small business owners in divorce court. Drafting prenuptial and postnuptial agreements for small business owners is her favorite work.

"Would You Sign This Prenup?" Upload the Draft You Received for a Review

Wed, 15 Jan 2025 05:05:03 GMT

Did your partner just ask you to sign a prenup?

Need a review of the prenup draft you received?

UPLOADR lets you safely and quickly share your prenup

draft through our site. The attorney can examine your

document before the free consultation with you on Zoom.

Your partner just presented you with a draft of a prenuptial agreement and asked you to sign.

Even though you might feel overwhelmed, don't jump in with a signature to alleviate your fears about your future relationship. It’s hard to read objectively when emotions are high.

Plus, unless you're a family law attorney in Florida, you may not know what rights recent divorce law confers on you, and you probably don't know the nuances of the updates to Florida law in 2018 and 2023.

This is where your lawyer steps in as the professional committed to protecting you:

We assess your prenup draft to ensure it works in your best interests.
We help you identify where the agreement supports your goals and where it falls short of safeguarding your financial and emotional well-being.
We provide a Zoom session with the attorney to screen-share the document as you work through the clauses together.
We give you an annotated version of your prenup draft so that you can see our feedback in writing after the Zoom session is complete - there's no need to take notes during the Zoom.
We share with you a letter summarizing the issues in the prenup that were discussed and annotated. This letter provides concrete revision language.

You have your choice of review services that fit your needs and your budget:

The first tier of our review service involves only our attorney and you. This tier focuses on analysis and arming you with revision language and knowledge about the impact of the prenup draft's provisions. This tier doesn't involve our attorney interacting with your partner's attorney. Many clients start with this option and then decide if they need the heavier intervention of the second tier of service.
The second tier of our review service involves all aspects of the first tier described above, but also includes interaction with your partner's attorney to negotiate a mutually agreeable contract. You may start with this service, or you may start with tier one and decide later if you need more help through tier two.

When it comes to the second tier of our review service, we bring our signature move to your rescue: we aim to de-escalate any bad feelings if you ask us to interact with your partner.

JustPrenups is highly aware that your relationship may feel the strain after this signature request. Your partner may be just as stressed as you are right now, even though it's your partner who presented this prenup to you. We aim to lessen the adversarial tone in communications to the other side that may cause soreness in your relationship. Instead we do our best to focus both sides on a prenup with terms that are fair and advantageous to your needs as much as your partner's needs.

Whether you are certain that you need a review or whether you want to understand your options after receiving the prenup draft from your partner, we’re here to help.

Ready to put this challenge behind you?

Ready to look out for you...but with much less stress?

We streamlined your next course of action. Follow these steps:

Hit submit, and start writing your future your way.
Type "review of prenup draft from my partner" in response to the final question of the questionnaire, which is, "Is there anything else we should know, or is there something you would like to share?"
Once we receive your submitted questionnaire, we will send the password to you that lets you upload your prenup draft easily and quickly through our document tool, Uploadr. Stress who? Not you.

You might be wondering why we ask for the draft of the prenup that was presented to you. It's because our best work matters to us as much as it matters to you.

We want you to have the best consultation possible with us - even a free introductory one. We want the attorney to be familiarized with the prenup draft's content so that your complimentary Zoom consultation is optimally productive.

We believe in fair pricing because that is how we wish to be treated. We can provide fair pricing only after we see the number of pages and complexity in the draft that your partner gave to you.

Please be assured that we are ethically bound to maintain your shared prenup draft and any information therein as confidential material - even if you don't retain us.

Warning : Hello, do you need a prenup? Our pros are here to help, but please note that all posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such for your individual needs. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com .

The More You Know: Florida Prenup Edition

7107328235 — Thu, 26 Dec 2024 08:49:59 GMT

Florida can be...quirky.

Florida is unique in its landscapes and culture among all the States, and Florida law has just as many nuances and dynamics, including updates to Florida family law that impact the drafting of any valid, enforceable Florida prenuptial agreement.

Did you know that Florida is one of the few states that does not recognize separation?

In Florida, you're either married or filed for divorce. There is no "in between."

If your prenup doesn't articulate that reality clearly, you may be in for a surprise: your soon-to-be ex-spouse's debts.

If your prenup is from a prenup-in-a-can template factory, your resulting document may not actually provide the protections you need. Your assets are worth more than a one-size-fits-all methodology.

Did you know that in Florida, equal timesharing (i.e., child custody), is presumptive?

While Florida prenups cannot touch issues involving children such as support and custody arrangement, a Florida prenup may consider what types of alimony a divorced parent may need given the income projections for each parent, the number of non-emancipated children, special needs for any child, and the child's or children's ages.

When 50-50 timesharing is presumed, the resulting dollar number for monthly child support may cause financial strain for the parent who earns less.

If your prenup is a prefabricated product, such as a basic fill-in-the-blank template, it may not address recent updates in Florida family law that changed the timesharing presumption, which in turn changed the amount of child support that is required, which in turn can impact the amount of alimony a single parent may need.

Basic boilerplate contracts probably won't help your most vulnerable self in the future.

That's why JustPrenups offers a series of customized alimony provisions that anticipate exactly this type of hurdle for a single parent. We help you to visualize those "what-ifs" and to arrive at a solution that feels appropriate for both partners.

Did you know that in Florida, your business can be treated like a person and therefore named as a party in your divorce?

In terms of practical outcomes, your business is essentially deemed "guilty until proven innocent" of wrongdoing under a bizarre holding in Zold v. Zold.

A Florida prenup needs to work around the technicalities of both Florida statutory law ( and its updates) and Florida case law.

If you are a Florida business owner, you cannot afford to leave your business - which is your income-producing vehicle and your legacy - and your business assets to chance in divorce court.

Plan now through a prenup for many business-related possibilities, including good ones! While JustPrenups can assist with proactively visualizing and preparing for the worst-case scenarios, we can also help with anticipating wonderful developments as your married life progresses: one of you may start a business, or you may jointly launch a business venture together so that you are entrepreneurial partners as well.

Build that app together, or think about quitting the 9-to-5 life, but let us help you first to create ground rules for these endeavors that will protect your finances and your assets as well as promote marriage longevity.

Did you know that in Florida, the richer spouse pays the poorer spouse's attorney fees for any divorce or child support/timesharing litigation?

Why should your hard-won assets be left at risk when your Florida prenup can anticipate such potential scenarios and draft accordingly for them?

Your prenup should consider the basics of what a divorce entails and build protects for each step. At JustPrenups, we consider that the most basic aspects of divorce might cause you (and your wallet) heartache: that's why we provide provisions even for something as apparently innocuous as mandatory disclosure under Rule 12.285 .

Your prenup has one job: to look after you as thoroughly as possible through each aspect of a Florida divorce under the current, updated law. Either your prenup assists with such "heavy lifting," or you are paying a divorce lawyer to do the heavy lifting.

Did you know that in Florida, temporary alimony cannot be waived by prenup?

That's the law in Florida right now, thanks to an update in 2023.

You may not waive temporary alimony in your prenup even if you and your spouse intentionally, knowingly agree to waive all types of available alimony.

Simply stating your mutually agreed-upon waiver is not enough to meet the standard articulated in the recent update.

If you want a valid, enforceable prenup, your prenup must observe current Florida law.

JustPrenups has drafted creative temporary alimony solutions that are still in alignment with our couples' values, intentions, post-divorce financial goals, and worst-case scenario budgets.

You're never at the mercy of traffic with our online meetings. Once you retain, we can meet with you easily, regardless of whether you're traveling, swamped at work, or at home with your children.

Click the blue button below (<Request Consultation>), and complete the questionnaire to initiate a free consultation.

Warning : Hello, do you need a prenup? Our pros are here to help, but please note that all posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such for your individual needs. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com .

JustPrenups Isn't Gatekeeping 10 Terrible Prenup Mistakes: Mistake #3

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 05:42:50 GMT

JustPrenups Isn't Gatekeeping 10 Terrible Prenup Mistakes: Mistake #3

The Missing Ruby Slippers

Welcome to our series, " JustPrenups Isn't Gatekeeping 10 Terrible Prenup Mistakes ."

For today's installation of our Terrible series, here's Mistake #3 that we call, The Missing Ruby Shoes .

In The Wizard of Oz , Dorothy can find her way home by clicking her ruby slippers three times, and bam! She's in Kansas - her home state. From the beginning of Dorothy's tale, Dorothy is squarely rooted in her home state, and her home state is the constant guide.

Kansas is both the starting point and the ending point of her journey - regardless of whatever complications come her way regarding whose assets belong to whom...

Your prenup's wardrobe should have ruby slippers too, except the prenup's ruby slipper set is called a governing law clause, which isn't very sparkly. It's just a fancy legal way of saying, "Kansas," or in our case, "Florida," because we serve *only* Florida. As a small business that is woman-owned, we thrive solely through our commitment to our clients and their trust in us, not through venture capital, which is why all of our work is so highly customized to clients' financial situations and goals but also to their interpersonal dynamics.

Let's say your prenup just arrived in your hands from Templates-R-Us. Unfortunately, the prenup-in-a-can store allowed you to create a prenup without a governing law clause: this clause identifies which state's law is being applied in the contract.

Beware your governing law clause,

or a house just might fall on you.

Why should the specific state matter? Because the rules in Florida are not the rules in California, whether we're talking about the rules for alimony or the rules for couple's signatures on the prenup itself relative to the wedding date.

Templates- R-Us let you believe that there are "magic carpet prenups" that carry you anywhere and everywhere, but that's not how prenups or Oz really works after all. Your prenup should incorporate the mechanics of drafting to your state because a governing law clause is not one-size-fits-all.

Your prenup could learn a lot from Dorothy.

Customization matters.

Click your heels three times, and your prenup's governing law clause should bring you to your home state.

Warning : All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com .

Divorce Does NOT Stop Your Obligation as a Sponsor for Spousal Immigration

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 01:41:36 GMT

Immigration may be weighing heavily on your mind in light of the election and related political concerns, and even more so if spousal immigration is part of your plan. If you or your beloved want a green card via marriage, then the U.S. citizen will likely need to sign an Affidavit of Support. You can learn about this form through the official government site here .

According to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) website:

" Form I-864, Affidavit of Support under Section 213A of the INA , is a contract an individual signs agreeing to use their financial resources to support the intending immigrant named on the affidavit . The individual who signs the affidavit of support becomes the sponsor once the intending immigrant becomes a lawful permanent resident. The sponsor is usually the petitioner who filed an immigrant petition on behalf of the intending immigrant."

An affidavit of support is a legally enforceable contract, and the sponsor’s responsibility usually lasts until the family member or other individual either becomes a U.S. citizen, or is credited with 40 quarters of work (usually 10 years).

In the section titled, “Responsibilities as a Sponsor,” on the official website, USCIS emphasizes one point clearly, which is reproduced directly from the government website as is:

"Note:

Divorce does NOT end

the sponsorship obligation."

USCIS makes sure that a sponsor - often the U.S. citizen spouse - understands the monetary commitment:

"When you sign the [A]ffidavit of [S]upport, you accept legal responsibility for financially supporting the sponsored immigrant(s), generally until they become U.S. citizens or are credited with 40 quarters of work. Your obligation as a sponsor also ends if you or the individual sponsored dies or if the individual sponsored ceases to be a lawful permanent resident and departs the United States."

In other words, four (4) main things will terminate your monetary obligation as sponsor:

death of either party;
the sponsored party gets citizenship;
the sponsored party completes 40 quarters work (which may take around 10 years); or
the sponsored part leaves the U.S. if they are no longer considered lawful.

Divorce will not relieve you of your obligation under the Affidavit of Support, and even the sponsored party’s receipt of welfare benefits will not stop your financial responsibility; in fact, if the sponsored party uses U.S. welfare benefits in any state, you are on the hook to repay the taxpayers via reimbursing whichever agency provided those benefits, and you may be sued for such reimbursement.

"If an immigrant you sponsored receives any means-tested public benefits, you are responsible for repaying the cost of those benefits to the agency that provided them. If you do not repay the debt, the agency or the immigrant can sue you in court to get the money owed. Any joint sponsors and household members who allowed the sponsor to combine their income with the sponsor’s income to meet the minimum income requirements are also legally responsible for financially supporting the sponsored immigrant. In fact, any joint sponsor and household member is jointly or severally liable with the petitioning sponsor, meaning that the joint sponsor and household member are independently liable for the full extent of the reimbursement obligation and can be sued in court or be asked to pay the money owed, even if the petitioning sponsor is not sued or asked for money."

If you are the U.S. citizen sponsor, consider your financial position now and ten years - and thereafter - from now very carefully: the Affidavit of Support alone ties you to monetary support of the sponsored party and/or to reimbursement of government agencies if any welfare benefit was supplied.

But who protects the sponsor’s interests and financial health given the risk of divorce litigation for any married couple plus the severity of the liability via the Affidavit of Support?

While some assets may be impacted via the obligations under the Affidavit of Support, a prenuptial agreement can protect the other assets to ensure that they aren’t lost in a divorce. Imagine the double whammy of losing money and other assets through a divorce and then continuing to lose money and assets after the divorce through the Affidavit of Support!

If you sign the Affidavit of Support, you owe it to yourself and to your other family members to secure your assets and your inheritance through a prenuptial (or postnuptial) agreement.

More and more Americans – especially the Millennials - now understand that prenups are not for the ultra-wealthy. Prenups solve a number of money management concerns that may involve business deals, inheritance worries, lawsuits, creditors, and reducing a your anxiety and trauma from watching one's own parents battle through a nasty divorce that depleted each parent’s emotional and financial funds.

Too late to draft an enforceable prenup? Ask us about our solution to protect your premarital assets even at this too-late date through scheduling a consultation at the blue button below.

Warning: All posts on JustPrenups.com contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. The information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com .

What is a Sunset Clause?

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 08:25:32 GMT

A Sunset Clause lets you insert a "self-destruct" button in your prenuptial agreement so that the prenup becomes void (i.e., of no legal significance and without enforcement potential) at a given date or within a number of years specified in the prenup.

Plenty of "prenup-in-a-can" services will tell you never to write a Sunset Clause into your prenup, but blanket statements rarely produce customized results. As with many prenup features, we believe that there may be some life circumstances that warrant some form of a Sunset Clause - and you may be one of those unique people.

Our video series below includes three parts: watch the videos with captions or listen as a podcast.

Want to know more? Use the blue button for "Request Consultation" to arrange for your free Zoom appointment with JustPrenups.

Immigration After Trump's Election - and Your Prenup

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 09:53:35 GMT

Is your marriage immigration-motived?

Is immigration one more thing on your wedding planning list?

WARNING: DIY PRENUPS ARE POPULAR IN MANY STATES, ESPECIALLY AS MANY COUPLES ARE SUFFICIENTLY SOPHISTICATED TO DRAFT THEIR OWN ADEQUATELY. THAT'S NOT THE CASE IN FLORIDA , WHICH HAS A MORE COMPLICATED FAMILY LAW LANDSCAPE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE. PER NEW LEGISLATION IN 2023, FLORIDA PROHIBITS A TOTAL WAIVER OF ALIMONY. YOU CAN EITHER (1) LEAVE IT UP TO THE COURTS, WHICH NEGATES THE REASON FOR A PRENUP, OR (2) BUILD IN SUBSISTENCE ALIMONY THAT SATISFIES THE STATUTE THROUGH TRIGGERS, RESTRICTIONS, "FLOORS," AND "CEILINGS." HOWEVER, ALL OF THAT MUST BE DONE WITH RESPECT TO THE AFFIDAVIT OF SUPPORT, ALSO KNOWN AS FORM I-864.

Immigration-Driven Marriages and Prenups

If you are preparing to marry someone who is not a U.S. citizen, you are not alone. It’s estimated that about seven percent of couples in the U.S. are right there with you. While many couples are interested in the financial protections that prenuptial agreements can offer, if your marriage involves immigration concerns, you’re going to want to think carefully about whether a prenup is in your best interest or not. And you’re going to need an experienced Florida prenuptial attorney on your side.

Spousal Immigration and the Affidavit of Support (Form I-864)

American citizens have the legal right to sponsor their foreign spouse’s immigration to the United States via a family-based immigration visa. This will ultimately provide your spouse with Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status, which is commonly referred to as having a green card.

In order for your spouse to reach LPR status, you’ll need to enter into a contractual agreement with the U.S. government in the form of an Affidavit of Support. This contract formally acknowledges that you have the financial means to – and are prepared to – financially support your spouse at a minimum financial threshold (until he or she becomes an American citizen). You won’t be relieved of this financial responsibility – it’s important to note – even if you and your spouse divorce and even if you have a prenup. Many people, including licensed attorneys, mistakenly believe, that a prenup can shield you from the commitments you have made under the Affidavit of Support. To be clear, a prenup cannot.

However, a prenup becomes most important BECAUSE you have signed an Affidavit of Support.

An Affidavit of Support has you potentially supporting your divorced

spouse beyond what any state's alimony requirement might be.

Therefore, protecting your assets, the growth on your assets, and the reinvestment of your assets is critical as you may be paying alimony and child support well beyond your means. Florida has always protected premarital assets even without a prenup until 2018. In 2018, significant statutory changes were made that impact real property owners. Whether your assets are real estate, cash, or businesses, you need a prenup to protect the growth and the reinvestment of those premarital assets: the growth and the reinvestment during the marriage become marital property without a prenup.

Conditional Permanent Resident Status

For the first two years of your marriage, your spouse will be granted what is known as conditional permanent resident status. To lose the conditional status, you’ll need to demonstrate that you are actually married – not married for the purpose of obtaining citizenship – to the USCIS (in accordance with the governmental agency’s standards). If the USCIS isn’t convinced that your marriage is "real" and in good faith, your spouse may be required to leave the United States (or be barred from entry), and you could face civil and/or criminal charges.

When it comes to marriages involving spousal immigration, there is even more at stake than in most other marriages, and it’s important to get your legal ducks in a row, especially within the prenup itself: specifically, if the contract smacks of coercion, or if the court isn’t convinced that your spouse clearly understood the terms of the contract (especially if English isn’t his or her first language), it very likely won’t be upheld.

You know that you’re marrying out of love for one another, but it’s only natural to have financial concerns given the fact that divorce does happen. Further, if this is a second marriage , your finances are likely to be complicated and require more careful attention.

Do you need to pursue an immigration-driven prenup? Are you in a time crunch?

Please fill out our online form to request a free consultation with JustPrenups.

Matrimonios y acuerdos prenupciales impulsados por la inmigración

Si se está preparando para casarse con alguien que no es ciudadano estadounidense, no está solo. Se estima que alrededor del siete por ciento de las parejas en los EE. UU. están ahí contigo. Si bien muchas parejas están interesadas en las protecciones financieras que pueden ofrecer los acuerdos prenupciales, si su matrimonio involucra preocupaciones de inmigración, querrá pensar detenidamente si un acuerdo prenupcial es lo mejor para usted o no. Y necesitará un abogado con experiencia en asuntos prenupciales de Florida de su lado.

Inmigración conyugal y declaración jurada de manutención (formulario I-864)

Los ciudadanos estadounidenses tienen el derecho legal de patrocinar la inmigración de su cónyuge extranjero a los Estados Unidos a través de una visa de inmigración basada en la familia. En última instancia, esto le brindará a su cónyuge el estatus de Residente Permanente Legal (LPR), lo que comúnmente se conoce como tener una tarjeta verde.

Para que su cónyuge alcance el estatus de LPR, deberá celebrar un acuerdo contractual con el gobierno de los EE. UU. en forma de Declaración jurada de manutención. Este contrato reconoce formalmente que usted tiene los medios financieros y está preparado para mantener financieramente a su cónyuge hasta un umbral financiero mínimo (hasta que él o ella se convierta en ciudadano estadounidense). No quedará eximido de esta responsabilidad financiera (es importante tenerlo en cuenta) incluso si usted y su cónyuge se divorcian e incluso si tienen un acuerdo prenupcial. Muchas personas, incluidos los abogados autorizados, creen erróneamente que un acuerdo prenupcial puede protegerlo de los compromisos que ha asumido en virtud de la Declaración jurada de manutención. Para ser claros, un acuerdo prenupcial no puede.

Sin embargo, un acuerdo prenupcial se vuelve más importante PORQUE usted ha firmado una Declaración jurada de apoyo.

Una Declaración Jurada de Apoyo le permite potencialmente apoyar a su pareja divorciada.

cónyuge más allá de lo que podría ser el requisito de pensión alimenticia de cualquier estado.

Por lo tanto, proteger sus activos, el crecimiento de sus activos y la reinversión de sus activos es fundamental, ya que es posible que esté pagando pensión alimenticia y manutención de los hijos mucho más allá de sus posibilidades. Florida siempre ha protegido los activos prematrimoniales incluso sin un acuerdo prenupcial hasta 2018. En 2018, se realizaron cambios estatutarios importantes que afectan a los propietarios de bienes inmuebles. Ya sea que sus activos sean bienes raíces, efectivo o negocios, necesita un acuerdo prenupcial para proteger el crecimiento y la reinversión de esos activos prenupciales: el crecimiento y la reinversión durante el matrimonio se convierten en propiedad conyugal sin un acuerdo prenupcial.

Cuando se trata de matrimonios que involucran inmigración conyugal, hay incluso más en juego que en la mayoría de los otros matrimonios, y es importante tener a sus asuntos legales en orden, especialmente dentro del propio acuerdo prenupcial: específicamente, si el contrato huele a coerción, o si Si el tribunal no está convencido de que su cónyuge entendió claramente los términos del contrato (especialmente si el inglés no es su primer idioma), es muy probable que no lo confirme.

Saben que se casan por amor mutuo, pero es natural tener preocupaciones financieras dado que el divorcio ocurre. Además, si se trata de un segundo matrimonio, es probable que sus finanzas sean complicadas y requieran una atención más cuidadosa.

¿Necesita buscar un acuerdo prenupcial impulsado por la inmigración? ¿Estás en una crisis de tiempo?

Complete nuestro formulario en línea para solicitar una consulta gratuita con JustPrenups.

What is the Generosity Clause? Kindness During the Storm

7107328235 — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 00:15:11 GMT

The Generosity Clause prepares you for the worst-case scenario as well as the best possible outcome. Your prenup should be able to handle all possible emotional terrains.

If your prenup doesn’t have the Generosity Clause, it should.

Prenups in Florida should have a Generosity Clause because when you’re drafting a prenup, you should be drafting for the worst-case scenario - obviously. You should be drafting while imagining that your marriage has fallen into the worst place that you can possibly imagine it. And then you plan for that.

Think of buying a home insurance policy: you buy a policy that covers the house burning to the ground, which is the worst-case scenario. However, most houses don’t burn down to the ground...and most divorces are as bad as your worst-case scenario. (Believe it or not, most divorces are not burn-to-the-ground bad.)

While the prenup has to cover the worst-case scenario in our heads, we want to be realistic about the fact that your marriage may not end in a blaze and also plan accordingly - enter the Generosity Clause, which lets you be kind to your spouse as you part ways while not forcing you to be generous as status quo. Think of your prenup articulating the bare minimum as a requirement, while including a provision that allows you to be your most generous self - *if* you choose to be.

Even when you're locked into a contract like your prenup, you can still have option - if your prenup is well written.

A Generosity Clause allows you to have the best of both worlds: high coverage in your prenup for the worst-case scenario and flexible coverage when there's an opportunity to be cooperative and kind if the divorce is not caused by the worst thing ever.

Here's an example. Let’s say your prenup requires your partner to move out in three months, and three months comes and goes. Your partner is having trouble finding a new place to live... or your partner has a sprayed an ankle...or your partner had to leave town for a funeral...or your partner's work is all backed up. Regardless of the scenario, you want to give your partner another three months.

In Florida, you do have to be concerned that your judge is going to run with your instinct to be generous - and then punish you for it. The judge may say, "Since you gave your partner an extra three months, I’m going to court order another six months because clearly you had the ability to pay."

The judge will use those three buzz words: ABILITY TO PAY .

Those words are scary for people who want to be generous, but who rightfully feel that the judge may punish them for that generosity. Fortunately we have a solution for exactly this situation: the Generosity Clause.

We can include a clause that allows you to be generous to your partner, whether in terms of money or time so that it's up to you to decide whether to give more money, less money, more time, less time - all depending on the situation.

Remember that generosity goes both ways in terms of giving as well as receiving. The giving person or the receiving person may say, "You know what? I can use less. I’m far more comfortable with less."

The Generosity Clause allows you to act without impacting the overall terms of the prenup: your generous action does not create expectations that there will be more ability to pay simply because someone used the built-in flexibility. You don't have to worry about your choices and behavior un-doing the terms of your prenup that protect you.

Always remember the number one thing that a prenup can do for you is tie up the way you move money around. .

DISCLAIMER: This information is offered as a helpful guide for our retained clients only. Any material offered on this website does not constitute legal advice and does not create a professional relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com.

The Benefits of Prenup Mediation

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 15:30:24 GMT

Entering into a marriage is a significant milestone that comes with many responsibilities and decisions. One of these important decisions is whether to have a prenuptial agreement, commonly known as a prenup. While the idea of discussing finances and future separations can be uncomfortable, prenup mediation offers a more amicable and constructive approach compared to traditional methods. According to the Harris Poll, an American market research and analytics company, half of United States adults, or roughly 165 million people, say they're open to signing a prenup. This blog post delves into the benefits of prenup mediation and why it might be the ideal path for engaged couples.

1. Open and Honest Communication

One of the main advantages of prenup mediation is that it fosters open and honest communication between partners. Unlike the adversarial nature of hiring separate lawyers, mediation involves a neutral third party who facilitates discussions. This environment encourages couples to voice their concerns and preferences in a safe and supportive setting, helping them reach mutually beneficial agreements. By engaging in open dialogue, couples build stronger foundations of trust and mutual understanding.

2. Cost-Efficiency and Affordability

Cost-efficiency is another significant benefit of opting for prenup mediation. Hiring more than one lawyer can quickly escalate costs, leading to financial strain before the marriage even begins. Mediation, on the other hand, typically requires less time and fewer resources, making it a more affordable option. By minimizing legal expenses, couples can direct their finances towards their future together rather than on costly legal battles.

3. Less Stress and Greater Flexibility

Furthermore, prenup mediation is often less stressful and more flexible than traditional legal proceedings. The mediation process allows couples to set their own pace and schedule, unlike the rigid timelines often imposed by courts. This flexibility provides a more relaxed environment where couples can thoughtfully consider their options without feeling pressured. Additionally, the collaborative nature of mediation tends to reduce the antagonism and emotional strain associated with prenup negotiations, making the process smoother and more positive.

Prenup mediation offers numerous benefits that make it an attractive alternative to traditional methods. By promoting open communication, reducing costs, and providing a less stressful environment, mediation helps couples create fair and comprehensive prenuptial agreements. As couples prepare to embark on their marital journey, considering prenup mediation can pave the way for a more harmonious and secure future together. Be sure to reach out to JustPrenups today for more information on our professional prenup mediation !

What is the Generosity Clause in JustPrenups' Prenuptial Agreement?

Wed, 02 Oct 2024 06:03:13 GMT

Our Generosity Clause lets you be your best, most generous self while simultaneously preparing for a burn-down-the-house divorce.

Generosity means giving more money or more time to the other person by saying, "You know what? I can use less. I'm far more comfortable with less," even when your prenup says you don't have to, but you want to - and JustPrenups built this flexibility into your prenup.

Our video series below includes three parts: watch the videos with captions or listen as a podcast.

Want to know more? Use the blue button for "Request Consultation" to arrange for your free Zoom appointment with JustPrenups.

Can a Mediated Prenup Provide "Divorce Insurance" for Your Assets?

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 18:32:00 GMT

A mediated prenup or a mediated postnup may confer some advantages for couples who are concerned about costs - both emotionally and financially. A mediated prenup or postnup does not assume an adversarial position, which is typical of representation by an attorney. Instead of an attorney taking an advocacy position for only one side, a mediator remains neutral and is bound by law to stay neutral through safeguarding the fairness and transparency of the procedure for both parties.

Let's review:

Mediation by a mediator:

· Neutral toward all parties.

· Transparent process for all parties involved.

· Shared communication with all parties involved.

· The parties are walked through the process toward the final draft of the pre- or postnuptial agreement and through the disclosure of assets and liabilities to each other.

· Confidentiality extends to communications between the mediator and the parties; for example, nothing discussed in mediation sessions can be disclosed later by the parties or by the mediator. Discussions between the mediator and the parties cannot later be used against either party in a legal proceeding, such as divorce.

· Offered by JustPrenups as a flat-rate package of services.

Representation by an attorney:

· Zealous advocacy by the attorney for only one side's best interests.

· No disclosure to the other side about process.

· Only certain communications are shared with the other side, as the attorney has the duty of confidentiality only to the one party who is the client.

· Parties reach agreement through the opposing attorneys acting for each side's best interests. Confidentiality is owed to the client only and not to the non-represented party.

· Confidentiality extends on all matters disclosed by the party to the attorney for the purposes of representation, and the lawyer’s duty of confidentiality is permanent, extending even beyond the death of the client.

· May be a flat rate, but often billed hourly to accommodate the number of drafts written, the number of concerns raised, and the number of phone, Zoom, and email communications with the attorneys.

Many couples who are considering a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, or a cohabitation agreement, do not realize that another option is available beyond the traditional adversarial representation associated with attorneys, which can be off-putting to one or both parties when starting a life together. In

Mediators seek to reassure both sides that they are in a neutral environment that typically feels friendlier to both partners, which is the point: JustPrenups wants clients to embark on planning their future together out of love and concern for each other's welfare. What better way to show that love and concern than through protective planning for all parties?

Please see our blog post, Cross Cultural Perceptions of Prenuptial Agreements , which addresses prenups as a means of protective financial planning for the family (and for the business, if you and/or your partner own a business), with the prenuptial agreement being only one tool among others, such as wills, advanced medical directives, and naming beneficiaries, for example. In this regard, you may shift your thinking of prenuptial or postnuptial agreements to see them in the same fashion as car insurance, security cameras, medical insurance, seatbelts, and the like, which are protective, helpful devices in case of the worst-case scenario. You really don't want to need those items either, but if you do, they can save your well-being financially and physically.

In addition, if a client divorces and challenges the agreement, mediators who work with a couple are situated differently from lawyers who represent an individual. Mediators can testify in a divorce to the integrity of the procedures used to draft, to facilitate disclosure, and to certify the agreement. A mediator can show the history of both parties' consent to the agreement. JustPrenups employs a method with time built into the process for each side to consider every step of disclosure and every draft version of the agreement. The mediator can demonstrate that adequate time was allotted for both sides to consider the final draft and to obtain counsel from individuals outside the couple.

If a client is represented by an attorney and then contests the agreement's validity in a divorce, that attorney can only reiterate arguments about why the agreement was fair to, and consensual for, both sides.

In a divorce, a party represented by an attorney is still owed confidentiality by that attorney. Likewise, the mediator also has a duty of confidentiality, but that duty extends to both parties equally and to all the content in communications between the parties and the mediator, pursuant to the Mediation Confidentiality and Privilege Act enacted in Florida in July 2004.

Is mediation necessarily better for the both of you as a couple? Is mediation better for you as an individual? At JustPrenups, we cannot advise you as to which approach is better suited to your needs. We can identify the pros and cons of both approaches, and you can decide what is a better fit for your needs as an individual and as a couple. Our approach is not "one size fits all," and you may need to consult with us to determine the best path. Mediation is an option, but if you are better served by representation, our sister company, DADvocacy , can meet your needs.

Warning: All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com .

What is Replacement Alimony?

Thu, 08 Aug 2024 20:49:54 GMT

"I'm getting remarried but scared of losing the alimony payments I receive from my first marriage. What can I do?"

You’re ready to marry again.

Why aren't you remarrying? Because you don't want to lose your alimony payment, which create your current standard of living and your security.

The new 2023 statute now supports the elimination or reduction of alimony through cohabitation. Previously the statute stopped alimony once the recipient married again. But under the new 2023 law for alimony in Florida, the payor of alimony can even petition for modifications to the payment amount if you cohabitate.

But what if remarriage didn't have to trigger these financial fears?

What if you could marry while assured that your finances won't suffer?

Welcome to “replacement alimony.”

JustPrenups can help you secure a safe remarriage through a custom drafted prenup that replaces your old alimony with what you can receive from your second spouse.

If you were previously married and have been receiving durational alimony, those payments will likely stop once you remarry in a legally recognized ceremony.

Durational alimony refers to long-term spousal support, not to temporary alimony. The payor ex-spouse can stop payment effective the date of the new marriage for the payee ex-spouse in most situations, excluding situations in which property has been substituted for alimony payments.

But what if that alimony payment is heavily relied upon for health needs, schooling, or other standard-of-living issues? Should alimony payees simply hope for the financial best with their own career future and/or with the new spouse’s ability to provide support? No.

Love does not conquer all. The prospect of financial hardship following a divorce is statistically likely, and if you are currently reliant upon income received through alimony, consider the risks. Would you drive a car without insurance and merely hope for the best? Of course not. You would do the most sensible thing: you would buy insurance.

When it comes to losing alimony via a new marriage, you should do the same: prepare a prenuptial agreement in which the partner agrees to terms that replace the alimony payments so that the alimony payee spouse does not experience material losses or a change in living standards. The prenup can articulate protections for time spent in the new marriage and list future alimony terms if the new marriage should end in divorce.

Prenups act as an insurance policy so that a new chapter in life doesn’t have to involve fear or anxiety over one’s financial future. At JustPrenups, we have labeled this type of protection as “replacement alimony” for the sake of ease in discussing specific provisions in your draft; the term is not in a statute.

Governor De Santis has recently signed a measure (SB 1416) that changes some aspects of Florida alimony. The most striking change is the removal of permanent alimony, which seeks to create greater balance of fairness for both ex-spouses. To that end, alimony payors have the right under the modifications to petition the court when they want to retire so that they can make decreased or no alimony payments.

Not sure how to structure your replacement alimony? See our other guidance.

Why aren't prenups cheap? What makes prenups expensive?

Tue, 06 Aug 2024 16:13:40 GMT

Why Aren't Prenups Cheap?

Prenups (and postnups) are, at their most basic, a contract between two people who make mutual promises to commit to certain behaviors and to avoid other behaviors, usually those involving finances, property, moving out during a separation, taxes, custody of pets, and plenty more.

Why does this basic contract cost so much money for drafting and guidance by an attorney or a mediator, especially when a "prenup in a can" is easily available online for a cheap fee?

1. Customized Contracts

You are paying for the protection that comes from a contract tailored to your unique situation and goals. For example, drafting may be slightly different for people who are more concerned about isolating each other from the partners' debts or lawsuits than an older couple who is mainly concerned with keeping premarital assets for their children from previous marriages.

You are paying for the years of legal training and career experience that inform the drafting of your prenup or postnup. For example, JustPrenups includes a number of terms from different statues and from case law over the years to ensure that there is no ambiguity in the contract's meaning.

Clear contracts result in more predictable outcomes. A cheap prenup may not be able to provide this security. Is that really a risk you want to take with your family business ?

A generic downloaded form does not take an inventory of your needs, your problem areas, and your future plans. Most importantly, it does not assist you fully with disclosure, which is the cornerstone of a marital agreement's strength and enforceability. When prenups are set aside or invalidated, it is usually based on disclosure or timing issues not on the words of the contract itself.

Disclosure is the process of sharing information regarding your assets (e.g., real estate, stock, retirement funds) and liabilities (e.g., debt, alimony payments, etc.) with each other so that both partners may make an "informed consent" to enter into the marriage and into the prenup: both know what the other can offer, and both still choose the terms of the prenup. If disclosure is incomplete, fraudulent, misleading, or in any way inaccurate - even if unintentionally - your prenup may be vulnerable to attack later on in divorce court.

2. The Crystal Ball

Prenups, postnups, and wills occupy an unusual space in law practice: they are legal documents with unusual longevity. In real estate law, the most long-term leases tend to cap at around ten years, for example. But a prenup can potentially last through an entire adult lifetime.

We have young clients in their mid-twenties who intend to spend their lives together. Imagine a document drafted at age 25 that is enforced at age 75 if, after 50 years of marriage, the couple decides to divorce. The lawyer or mediator has been asked to draft for circumstances 50 years into the future, which includes anticipating a number of unknowns in the couple’s life as well as future changes in statutes, case law, and social policy. You are paying for this level of expertise and guidance.

The mediator or attorney bears the burden of liability from managing clients who bring all these unknowns because of the extended timeframe.

3. Storage and Cyber Security

All law firms must pay for data storage , usually both physically for paper files and digitally for scans and online-only documents.

However, law firms that oversee prenup/postnup or estates must care for data for decades as a prenup or a will looks forward, including up to and after the death of the client to ensure the proper disposition of assets, debts, and other concerns as the client had intended. These firms are committed to storage and security for many more years per client than other law firms that handle, for example, a slip and fall case that looks backward at a specific timeframe and that concludes with a specific result.

Additionally, the attorney must protect documents and the clients’ best interests after her own death and/or incapacity: in law, an inventory attorney is the person selected by the practitioner to assume control of a firm if/when that attorney is unable to supervise the daily requirements of the firm. The inventory lawyer contacts clients to ascertain their next steps and to preserve the security of stored data and the duty of confidentiality.

4. Whisper Down the Lane

If the couple chooses representation instead of choosing a mediated prenup , both sides must be represented by an attorney. One attorney cannot represent them both. This is specifically prohibited by nearly every State’s Bar Association.

Remember that in a representation scenario, the attorneys charge for time spent with each client individually as well as for time working on drafting, reviewing edits, and floating drafts back and forth until the parties agree on a final version. The representation route involves four people playing “whisper down the lane” as they work toward a finalized draft, and every whisper is billed by the time increment.

The attorneys must advocate and fight for you, and if you choose a different route than they advise…

Representation is an inherently adversarial endeavor.

An attorney commits ethically and strategically to advocating zealously for *one* party. The attorney is pitted against that party’s competing circumstances and against any party who has or who may have a conflicting interest. A prenup contemplates a time when the spouses are no longer acting in each other’s interests.

When the attorney for fiancé X drafts the prenup, this attorney advances the interests of only fiancé X, not fiancé Y. When fiancé Y’s attorney receives fiancé X’s draft, fiancé Y’s attorney will usually spend time - at an hourly fee - bringing the content more into alignment with fiancé Y’s best outcomes, and this draft will bounce back to fiancé X’s attorney. Fiancés X and Y may both be financially prepared to handle several rounds of drafting and consulting at an hourly rate, but what about the strain on the marriage of each side looking out for number one via two adversarial attorneys?

JustPrenups offers the alternative to representation: the mediated prenup or postnup, which is priced at a flat fee for either the entire process or for most of the work. The flat fee usually provides considerable savings to clients as opposed to hiring separate attorneys for each partner’s representation. Some of our clients with businesses, extensive assets, and/or a complicated legal picture may require some additional hourly work on top of the flat fee, but overall, this approach to a mediated prenup is usually much less expensive than hiring an attorney for each partner on an hourly basis.

Find the Best Option for You

You can learn more about your options, such as the differences between a mediated prenup and traditional representation , through scheduling a free consultation. Complete our checklist , and we can meet on Zoom during your lunch or dinner break.

Warning: All posts on this website and its partner website, DADvocacy.com , contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client relationship between the reader and the DADvocacy™ Law Firm or between the reader and JustPrenups.com .

What Are the Differences Between an Attorney and a Mediator for Prenup Drafting

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 23:39:16 GMT

Keep reading for a side-by-side comparison of mediation and representation for prenup drafting.

JustPrenups.com can draft your prenup or postnup through one of two methods: mediation or representation .

How does the professional engage the couple?

REPRESENTATION : Each partner hires an attorney from different law firms. One lawyer drafts, and the other lawyer receives the draft to make revisions. The attorneys negotiate and draft until both partners are happy with the final document.

MEDIATION : You and your partner cooperate with the mediator to find mutually agreeable terms. While the mediator may guide the couple, the couple makes all final decisions.

What is the environment (i.e., "vibe check")?

REPRESENTATION : Attorneys have a duty to their clients only, not the opposing side. As a result, traditional representation by an attorney usually has an adversarial feel, even when the parties are both in agreement about the prenup and its terms.

MEDIATION : Both partners are always present and working shoulder to shoulder. They function as teammates, and they are equally positioned in terms of bargaining power in the relationship.

Is there a difference in pricing?

REPRESENTATION : Attorneys normally use the billable hour, but the final fee is unknown since neither side can predict how many drafts will be required until both sides agree.

MEDIATION : Mediators often employ a flat rate model that lists all your included services and their cap. The price usually includes any sessions with the couple and finalizing the prenup, among other services.

Who looks out for me?

REPRESENTATION : Attorneys are loyal only to their own clients. Attorneys may provide legal advice only to their clients. Your attorney keeps your secrets and owes no duty to your fiancé/fiancée.

MEDIATION : The mediator is always a neutral figure who is forbidden from advocating for either side. The mediator cannot communicate with only one party. All information is shared in the presence of both parties.

Do both methods require financial disclosure?

REPRESENTATION : A client turns over their financial documents to their attorney, who then shares them with the opposing side.

MEDIATION : Disclosure of financial, legal, and other information occurs between the partners. The mediator ensures both sides understand the critical role of disclosure in supporting the prenup contract.

Not sure what's best for you and/or your partner? Click the REQUEST CONSULTATION button below to schedule with us so that we can answer questions about what we offer and your unique goals.

A prenup, a postnup, a will, a living will, and a trust all walk into a bar.

Tue, 23 Jul 2024 20:49:21 GMT

A prenup is not your will. A prenup cannot substitute for a will.

A prenup, a postnup, a will, a living will, and a trust all walk into a bar.

Know what happens next?

They all order a dry martini, and they all use the rights conferred upon you by law to direct your assets and liabilities in a way that mirrors your intentions and ensures your own and/or your family's welfare when these legal documents are optimally drafted.

But some of these legal instruments are suitable for death and some are suitable for divorce…but there can be overlap in how you orchestrate your instruments for the best financial results.

Divorce and death both involve your departure from your partner, and both divorce and death

trigger Florida laws involving your assets that may or may not serve your best interests or the optimal interests of your family's welfare. Divorce and death both initiate the reassignment of assets and liabilities.

If you do not make your intentions known through a legal instrument such as a will or a prenup, then the state will make those decisions for you in probate court or in family law court (i.e., “divorce court”).

The Florida Bar has made plenty of will-related information available, including a form known as an advanced medical directive, otherwise known as a "living will" that indicates your preferences for medical treatment in extraordinary health circumstances when you cannot speak for yourself to make your wishes known. Your advanced medical directive usually names a medical power of attorney who can make life-or-death medical decisions for you when you are unable to act on your own behalf; often people choose their spouse as the medical power of attorney, but some people instead choose a parent or friend who shares a similar viewpoint regarding end-of-life issues.

At JustPrenups, we think people are best served by visiting an estate attorney after executing the prenup and getting married. Just like your prenup needs a pro, so does your will. A couple also may act in their best interest (and their heirs' best interest) if they visit an estate attorney before making a real estate purchase together if they are not yet married. An estate attorney can assist with ensuring your intentions are secured into the future. This attorney can help with the most tax savvy approach.

Anyone rendering law services must be a professional pessimist. To that end, we imagine a parade of horrible things that are possible, albeit unlikely, and then we draft the right instrument to get the best outcome. That is why we think executing a will, or at least checking on the status of your existing or former will, is critical after executing a prenup or a postnup.

Courts follow the most recently executed document because a judge can reasonably deduce that the most recent statement of your desires, as opposed to an older statement, is more in tune with your current intentions and current circumstances.

Don't forget one of our favorite instruments: a trust. Just like a prenup, a trust is not only for wealthy people. Ultimately a trust is simply another tool like a hammer or a wrench, and the tool doesn't care if you make millions a year or if your income reflects the national average. A trust is similar to a will in helping you to direct your assets to the intended beneficiary.

If you have concerns about marriage as it affects your medical coverage, please read our here about using a postnup (postnuptial agreement) to manage healthcare costs.

Want more help? We have a huge crush on AARP, and you should too, regardless of your age. Check out AARP's information, including its Florida-specific pages, on these topics.

Why Your Prenup's Notary Needs to be a Stranger

Thu, 18 Jul 2024 23:30:20 GMT

Your marital agreement and notarization: did you know that you have options?

You took another big step forward when you both approved the draft of your prenup, which is no longer a draft. It's the final version of your Prenuptial Agreement, and it needs to be notarized.

Whether you decided to DIY your prenup, or to seek traditional representation by an attorney, or to mediate your prenup together, your next step is executing your Prenuptial Agreement. "Executing" means that you are signing the Agreement with witnesses and a notary.

Some professionals include notarization as one service among other prenuptial agreement services.

JustPrenups is not one of them. We do not provide a notary via our company, and we do not recommend particular notaries either.

JustPrenups directs our clients to an outside service to provide notarization as we do not want to notarize - essentially approve and validate - our own work.

We want external notaries to see for themselves that you are both acting voluntarily and not under any apparent chemical influence, cognitive impairment, duress or coercion, any of which may be grounds to invalidate a prenup.

At JustPrenups, your next step is to choose a notary after you finalize the content of your Agreement. Not all notaries operate in the same way, even though the results are the same. You may choose from three basic categories:

an in-person notary (e.g., your local bank usually has a notary).
a remote notary (i.e., online notary services), which usually has more verification requirements because they are completing online transactions.
or a mobile notary (i.e., the notary comes to your physical location).

Consider the following notarization tips:

Call the notary in advance to check on hours, fees, and parking.
Ask what credentials you need to bring with you. This issue is more critical for international partners.
Print more than one copy of your Agreement to bring with you to the notary in case you make a mistake while signing or in case of the notary making a mistake. Note that you are bringing the extra copies only in case of an emergency, such as the notary's stamp not working properly, etc. The intent here is to be prepared and to avoid an extra trip, not to make multiple copies.
Check every page: ensure that all pages were actually printed and are in order.
Check every page of your print-outs: ensure that the black ink printed evenly such that every word is readable after scanning. Make sure that there are no smudges obscuring a letter or punctuation mark, any of which could be critical to interpretation if the Agreement is ever contested.
Remember that both partners need to initial each page.

We have an ironclad rule: you must work with only one original copy to avoid any confusion that occurs if you create multiple original versions. JustPrenups prioritizes simplicity and security.

Next, what are the nuts and bolts - the mechanical "how" part - of approaching this process? See below.

Many couples opt to execute their Agreement together before the notary, and that is your option. But be aware that the couple is not required to be present together for simultaneous notarization.

JustPrenups would like you to consider creating another layer of validity to your Agreement through notarizing your Agreement separately. How does that work? Partner 1 signs with the notary, and then that Agreement (with Partner 1's notarized, dated, witnessed signature) is given to Partner 2 to create the same dated, witnessed signature before a notary.

What is the advantage of notarizing the Agreement separately? Here's an illustration. Let's say that there is duress in the relationship that is covert, and the dynamic is coercive enough to leave the other partner obedient out of fear. The separate notarizations provide an opportunity for the oppressed partner to take space safely to say no by failing to notarize.

Do you want yet another layer of integrity and protection for your Agreement?

Keep your Prenuptial Agreement close and your notary a stranger.

If you use your friend or your employee as a notary, the rigors of the process may be lost, and the appearance of self-dealing could be damning if your Agreement is ever challenged in family court.

At JustPrenups, we ask that you share with us a PDF of your executed Agreement (i.e., the initialed, signed, dated, notarized, single original copy), and of course, all of our clients are free to share wedding pictures (especially if your pets are in them)!

Will You Marry Me. . . and Sign This Prenup?

Thu, 09 May 2024 15:15:00 GMT

Your partner has just asked you to sign the draft of the prenup that's sitting in your inbox.

But you don't speak legalese, and you don't know what the law truly is designed to confer on you as a spouse. Plus, you simply want a fair prenuptial agreement.

Or maybe you are a lawyer, but the emotions make clearheaded reading impossible; after all, the thought of a divorce lawyer’s bill is terrifying.

We offer the most basic level of representation: the review of the prenup draft that you received from your partner.

To help clients seeking a review by a family law attorney, we first focus on helping them to understand the key considerations for a prenup draft and to avoid common misconceptions. We follow a proprietary process developed by JustPrenups' Florida family lawyers and mediators who also have a background as educators and as a mental health professional. You can learn more about our approach through booking with us here .

Before proceeding, let's clarify our services. JustPrenups offers clients different avenues to achieve the same goal: mediation and representation. You can compare the two side by side here . Briefly, here's the "tl;dr" version:

In mediation , JustPrenups commits to neutrality as mediators who work with both partners in accordance with the Florida statute governing mediators [outside link to this].

In representation , JustPrenups commits to advocacy for, and loyalty to, only one member of the couple. That's the essence of the traditional lawyer-client relationship.

Some people might sign the prenup draft right away without a second thought; after all, Snookums is asking you to do something.

But even in the best circumstances, you have to plan for the worst circumstances.

That's where your lawyer becomes a new pair of eyes to see not only through the legal lens, but to read your prenup draft as an outsider who is not emotionally invested in any outcome - except the best for you.

We see the plight of many review clients: they are often under pressure, and that's why JustPrenups holds appointment spots for them. We hold only two appointment spots per business day for these free consultations.

As with any prenup, time is of the essence not only for your wedding planning, but also for the divorce judge who may toss your prenup because the receiving partner did not get adequate time to comprehend the prenup's consequences and/or to seek legal or tax advice before signing.

What Can Our Review Service Do for You?

In our review service, we help you to identify how your prenup can be a great planning tool for *your* wealth protection and future security. We also discuss clauses to assist with your emotional well-being.

We identify the ways that the prenup draft is enabling your own personal goals. But most importantly, we spot where the prenup may not protect you or adequately cover your needs into the future.

The best prenup offers

optimal financial planning

for BOTH partners.

For example, we believe that all prenups should have more sophisticated clauses that cover an especially vulnerable time for a divorce in a couple's life: divorce during pregnancy, because sometimes the most unexpected things can happen to expecting moms and dads.

We don't simply tell you what's "bad" about the draft that you received. We explain how pragmatic language can yield big differences in your future finances and in your emotional health.

When a prenup review is effective, the results put both partners on more solid ground. Our overall goal is more trust and less anxiety.

Your First Appointment

At your first appointment with us after payment and retention, you can expect to describe what would be ideal for you. We do our best to help you translate your "ideal" into a shared reality with your partner, word by word, in your prenup.

And remember: when you revise the prenup that your partner presented to you, each revision is a GOOD thing. Your revision shows your voluntary participation in the process and your will to shape a desirable outcome. Revisions also can be a merit badge of teamwork.

For the review service, you take our verbal and written assessment with you. We do not rope you into representation at an hourly rate from start to completion of the prenup. We parse services so that you are getting exactly what you want. As a result, this service is priced affordably so that soon-to-be brides and grooms can access the advice and direction they most need at a critical time.

However, if you do wish for us to draft your prenup from the ground up, or to re-draft via revisions to an existing draft, we can offer a drafting package best suited to you (and your business, if needed), including disclosure and presentation to your fiancé’s/fiancée’s attorney. In this capacity, your JustPrenups attorney will work with the attorney for your fiancé/fiancée until there is a mutually agreeable draft that is compliant with updates to divorce and alimony laws.

JustPrenups is highly aware that effective legal representation for a prenup shouldn't poison the well of your relationship. We aim to foster helpful, congenial relations with the attorney for your fiancé/fiancée so that the tone remains as non-adversarial as possible. That's not only good for your wallet, but also good for your home life .

We help clients from all over the state of Florida with service locations in Clearwater, Fort Lauderdale, Miami , Naples, Orlando, Tampa, and West Palm Beach. No matter where you are, our online meetings keep life simple and convenient.

Your current self-care choices may determine your future worth and health after a divorce. Finish this form to schedule your free online consultation with us.

Warning : Hello there, your prenup’s content and the process used in its creation are both evaluated by your family law judge if you and your partner divorce. Your judge may consider tossing your prenup if you observed poor practices in your drafting, disclosure, and signature processes because you decided not to use pros at prenups and postnups.

Disclaimer : All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.

Social Media Attacks and Your Prenup

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 09:28:00 GMT

Visit any news outlet this week, and you’ll see headlines about federal judge Loretta Preska’s release of names involved with Jeffrey Epstein’s Lolita Express.

But is the hype about the names?

No. We know the names already.

There isn’t any news outlet bringing entirely new information to light. The big names are all the same: Trump , Bill Clinton , Prince Andrew , Les Wexner , Jean-Luc Brunel , Alan Dershowitz , and the like . No surprises here.

The names are not really the titillating muck of the Epstein news this week. After all, the level of sleaze and orchestrated exploitation have been well-known clickbait features for years at this point.

News stories need clicks. The business of news production has now shifted focused toward one angle: the fascination, the discomfort, the schadenfreude of watching all those seemingly private details of the elites' hidden world and their private personas become the stuff of international gossip and indignant denials.

Many spectators were surprised by Judge Preska's release of the names associated with Epstein's island, but this release shouldn't have been unexpected.

Dirty laundry regularly airs itself in court.

Why are media-savvy A-listers and politicos so surprised that their "private" connections and "private" business dealings would come to light through court filings?

This scenario is exactly what they should expect…and guess what?

It’s also what you - the ordinary person who is not a public figure - should expect too.

Consider that the standard-issue divorce of the most ordinary American business owner – an average restaurant owner , for example - can reveal plenty of secrets. JustPrenups’ founder, Chantale Suttle, wrote about a bitter but common divorce in which a litigant reveals the soon-to-be-ex-spouse’s "unreported cash income [from the business] [1] or...code violations that put patrons at risk." Why would such details become part of a private figure’s divorce hearing?

Suttle can offer plenty of reasons, such as spite, but divorces may entail legitimate disputes over the value of an asset, such as a business; such disputes are basic to determining who gets what portion of assets and who gets stuck with liabilities.

Consider the mechanics of how an ordinary divorce can lead to extraordinary destruction for a small, family-owned business:

The judge will likely require that the restaurant disclose extensive confidential information regarding its finances and operations so that the value of the business and the owner’s true income can be determined....Not only are the disclosure requirements intrusive, they can be incredibly burdensome. The restaurant will likely need its own attorney to satisfy the court’s orders. In the worst possible case, the judge may decide that neither spouse can be trusted to run the restaurant, and appoints a paid receiver to operate it instead.

As a result, the damage to this business – or any business – is permanently done. The business owner’s reputation may also take a hit.

What may be a private irrelevant detail to you about your divorce may be, for the judge, critical to the disposition of the case and highly relevant to a fair outcome...unless you have already determined the rules of engagement for this type of foreseeable disaster, which is exactly what a divorce is, especially for a business owner.

A prenuptial agreement or postnup can address these concerns, as Suttle noted. For a business owner, the drafting of the prenup or postnup means something different than for someone who is a W-2 employee.

JustPrenups offers different templates that can make a difference in preserving the life of your business. Related clauses involve confidentiality, social media, non-compete clauses, and NDAs, among plenty of others. At JustPrenups, these issues are covered in mediation so that the couple themselves makes these decisions instead of litigation deciding the outcome.

Such clauses aren't items to be grabbed off a shelf and tossed in your shopping cart, especially if they may conflict with other portions of your contract. A prefab, downloadable template might not be the best option for someone concerned about privacy, not to mention a family business, in a potential divorce.

A service that offers "vending machine" style prenups with some professional assistance still might not be able to draft for your needs and for the standards of your state's laws…without creating ambiguity or conflicts in your agreement.

We keep these questions and our approach proprietary, as our competition doesn't engage in this level of logistical thinking. That is also why JustPrenups offers templates for Florida only, as the templates are kept up to date with state law.

JustPrenups prides itself on asking couples hard questions regarding the public versus private realms. JustPrenups' approach results from Chantale Suttle's years as an attorney in complex divorce litigation and from her time as a family law magistrate.

If you are interested in learning more about a mediated prenup, complete this form to schedule a free online meeting with us.

Warning: Hello there, your prenup’s content and the process used in its creation are both evaluated by your family law judge if you and your partner divorce. Your judge may consider tossing your prenup if you observed poor practices in your drafting, disclosure, and signature processes because you decided not to use pros at prenups and postnups.

Disclaimer: All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.

[1] Does your prenup template include language regarding the use of tax returns? Unfortunately, prenup-in-a-can services may leave you unprepared for scenarios that could be harmful. At best, they might give you some basic coverage, assuming that the template and the process of drafting and disclosure *all* comply with the standards of your state law. Do you know what those are? Have you checked for updated statutes or new case law? Sadly, some services emphasize “speedy” results from start to finish, which is exactly what a divorce judge might find suspect about the integrity of your prenup.

DON’T get a mediated prenup if you are this couple

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 06:57:00 GMT

Mediation is a great tool to create a prenup through a “teamwork” environment. Moreover, the process strengthens the bond between partners as they clarify expectations of each other and of the future.

While some “prenup-in-a-can” sites allow clients to rush through a life-altering contract in 24 hours, our online mediation meetings compel participants to consider the outcome of their decisions well into the future, which is critical when discussing assets that may take years of labor to acquire.

At JustPrenups, our proprietary mediation process creates checkpoints to ensure the following:

Thorough disclosure by both parties that conforms to Florida’s “full and frank” disclosure standard.

Documentation of satisfaction by both parties with the disclosure process.

Emphasis on the duty to update information in the disclosure process, which may be a sticking point in divorce court years later.**

Ascertaining, validating, and witnessing both parties’ sober, voluntary, informed decision to sign the prenup.

Maintaining neutrality while posing questions derived from years of experience in mediation, counseling, and litigation.

Despite all the advantages of mediation to create your prenup, there are some groups who are not suited for mediation. These groups should instead choose representation, which involves the traditional lawyer-client relationship: specifically, an attorney advocates for the interests of only one party.

The following four groups are usually not well served by mediation:

1. The partners are in a marriage of convenience.

They are not bonded in love and the resulting trust, and they are usually not involved with each other over a period of time in which each partner learns the other’s pattern of behavior. These people need the protection of a lawyer’s advocacy.

Otherwise, mediation rests on mutual respect and a trust bond between the parties that compels them to protect the welfare of the other person.

2. The partners possess uneven power.

Mediation requires an equal playing field to ensure that both partners have the same bargaining power.

There will always be differences between partners, but some of those differences set the stage for uneven negotiating power. In some cases, age can be a huge power differential, but not always. Education can create a power difference, depending on what the person has studied. Another example: couples in which the spouse is the employee of the other spouse, as the employee spouse may not speak freely in mediation if the person is anxious about job status.

3. The partners have a history of domestic violence, stalking, harassment, etc., and they have since reconciled.

Both parties in this situation are better served by an attorney who can look out for the interests of the respective party.

Unfortunately, the layers of trauma may influence the mediation process negatively.

4. One partner is an attorney.

Imagine the imbalance when one party comes to the table with extensive knowledge of contract basics and with training in negotiation and argument skills. While both partners may acknowledge the difference in knowledge and the resulting differences in related abilities, they may not fully grasp the impact on mediation.

Rather than risk a compromised mediation process, the parties can best protect their interests when each side hires an attorney. Both sides should be able to call upon years of legal training rather than only one side through occupation.

Other situations may call for representation as opposed to mediation:

In general, if one or both partners have significant legal issues such as pending litigation or tax problems, the couple may not be the ideal candidates for mediation. An attorney’s representation can offer more comprehensive, directive guidance in finalizing a prenup draft.

If one of the partners is resistant to the idea of a prenup, mediation cannot work at all, as both parties have to be voluntarily engaged.

If you have already tried to mediate your prenup and failed, your mediation is likely to fail again because there was no opportunity to resolve areas of disagreement.

JustPrenups offers both mediation and representation, as you may work with a mediator or with an attorney licensed in Florida.

If you aren’t sure whether you need mediation or representation, a free Zoom consultation can clarify what is best for your situation.

Warning : All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.

**Hello there, your prenup’s content and the process used in its creation are both evaluated by your family law judge if you and your partner divorce. Your judge may consider tossing your prenup if you observed poor practices in your drafting, disclosure, and signature processes because you decided not to use pros at prenups and postnups.

Wedding Bells and Push Notifications: Master Your Big Day with These 8 Tech Tools

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 06:46:00 GMT

Planning a wedding is no small feat, filled with countless details that require meticulous attention. Yet, technology has emerged as a lifesaver, making the journey to matrimony less cumbersome. From Virtual Reality (VR) offering venue tours to Artificial Intelligence (AI) suggesting vendors, Just Prenups unpacks eight modern marvels that make planning your big day a cinch. So, let’s delve into the high-tech tools that can turn you into an ultra-efficient wedding planner.

A New Reality: Exploring Venues Through Virtual Lenses

Gone are the days of hopping from one venue to another, wasting valuable time and energy. Virtual Reality (VR) brings potential sites to you, allowing you to tour them in 3D right from your living room. Just put on your VR headset and virtually walk through the venue, inspecting every corner and visualizing your dream event in real time. This technological miracle not only conserves time but also enables you to make a well-rounded decision before settling on that picture-perfect location.

All-in-One Assistants: Why Wedding Apps Are a Must-Have

Juggling multiple tasks and deadlines is a given when planning a wedding. Wedding apps have emerged as the ultimate consolidators, combining all your planning elements in one easy-to-navigate platform. These apps allow you to manage invitations, RSVPs, and even the tricky seating charts with just a few swipes on your smartphone.

No Handyman Needed: Opt for Home Maintenance Apps

Should you opt for a home wedding, home repairs suddenly become part of the wedding prep. Thanks to various handyman app options, scheduling these fixer-uppers has never been easier. These apps let you schedule service appointments, track the repair status, and even get quotes from verified professionals.

Customization King: 3D Printing Your Dream Decor

Every couple seeks a unique and personalized wedding. 3D printing technology is stepping in to offer just that. Imagine having custom-designed centerpieces, name tags, or even cake toppers created through 3D printing. You can design and visualize these elements digitally before bringing them to life, offering a one-of-a-kind flair to your special day.

Birds-Eye Brilliance: Drones for Aerial Excellence

Traditional photography is being elevated, literally, by drones. These unmanned aerial vehicles offer a unique vantage point, capturing sweeping views of your venue and intimate moments from angles that were once impossible. Drone photography provides you with jaw-dropping aerial shots that will make your wedding stand out both in memory and in your beautiful photo album.

Vendor Victory: AI Takes the Guesswork Out

The vendor hunt can be a wild goose chase, but AI algorithms simplify this process like never before. Just input your preferences and budget constraints, and let the automated system do the work. You’ll receive personalized vendor recommendations tailored to your needs, making your decision-making process quick and devoid of stress.

RSVPs Made Easy: Streamlined Guest Communications

Corresponding with guests often turns into a complicated web of messages and RSVPs. Wedding-specific communication apps can organize this chaos. They let you send out mass updates, collect RSVPs, and even create a digital guestbook, ensuring everyone stays informed without cluttering your phone or email.

Contract Clutter No More: Go Digital With Document Management

In the world of contracts and multiple vendors, keeping track of documents is crucial. Digitalization is the key here. You can switch your files online to various formats, particularly PDFs, for a consistent look across different devices. Online tools offer drag-and-drop options for converting your contracts, invoices, and other critical documents, such as your executed prenup and its backup disclosure documents, into universally accessible formats.

As we move further into the digital age, technology is proving to be a boon for couples navigating the labyrinthine process of wedding planning. Whether you are using VR to visit venues, leaning on AI for vendor selection, or creating unique decorative pieces through 3D printing, technology is making the entire experience streamlined and fun. So, as you begin your journey toward matrimonial bliss, consider incorporating these high-tech tools to ensure a stress-free and memorable celebration.

Warning : All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com.well

Six Ways to Responsibly Spend Your Wedding Gift Money

Tue, 26 Sep 2023 17:51:00 GMT

Responsibly Spending Wedding Gift

Weddings are a joyous occasion, where two people come together to share their love with friends and family. Often, guests show their appreciation for the couple by giving them cash wedding gifts. But what do you do with the gifts once you receive them? Today, Just Prenups will discuss how to responsibly allocate your wedding gift funds to ensure that you are not only contributing to your own future but also helping others in need.

Donating

It is important to remember that there are always those less fortunate than us, and one way to responsibly allocate your wedding gift funds is to donate to a charitable cause. Choose a charity or nonprofit organization that aligns with your values and consider making a donation in honor of your wedding guests. Not only will this make you feel good about contributing to a greater cause, but it will also leave a lasting impression on your guests.

For Retirement

Planning for retirement is a crucial step toward achieving financial security in your later years. It may seem far off, but putting money aside now can make a significant difference in your future financial stability. If you’ve received a sizable wedding gift, it’s worth considering opening an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or contributing to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. By starting early and taking advantage of compound interest, you can watch your savings grow over time and ensure a comfortable retirement. Remember, the more you save now, the more financially secure you will be in your golden years.

Student Loan Repayment

Student loan debt can be a significant financial burden for many couples, and it’s not uncommon for newlyweds to have this issue hanging over their heads. If you have outstanding student loans, it’s worth considering using your wedding gift funds to pay down the balance. By reducing or eliminating your debt, you can start your married life with a strong financial foundation, making it easier to save for other long-term goals like homeownership, starting a business, or saving for retirement. With a little bit of planning and smart allocation of your wedding gift funds, you can make a significant difference in your financial future.

Savings Account

Saving money is a crucial part of achieving long-term financial goals, whether it’s starting a family or planning for retirement. One way to start building your future is by opening a savings account with your wedding gift funds and putting the money away. This will help you establish a solid financial foundation that can provide a safety net for unexpected expenses and allow you to make progress toward your long-term financial goals. With a savings plan in place, you’ll feel more in control of your finances and better prepared for whatever comes your way.

House Down Payment

Utilizing your wedding gifts as a means to save for a down payment on a house can be an incredibly smart and practical decision. By allocating these generous contributions towards such a significant investment, you are setting the foundation for a stable and secure future with your spouse. To better anticipate the amount needed for a down payment, research the average home prices in your desired area and determine the percentage typically required by lenders. This will give you a clear savings goal to work towards.

Communicating this intention with your wedding guests can also encourage them to contribute towards your dream home, ultimately bringing you closer to achieving your goal. With careful planning and the support of your loved ones, your wedding gifts can play a pivotal role in turning your dream of homeownership into a reality.

Start a Business

Starting your own business is a challenging, yet rewarding venture that can help you invest in your future. If you have always dreamed of owning your own business, consider using your wedding gift funds to start one. There are many types of businesses to choose from, and you can structure your business as a limited liability company (LLC) to limit personal liability and protect your assets.

There are countless ways to responsibly allocate your wedding gift funds to ensure that you are contributing to your own future and helping others in need. Whether you donate to a charitable cause, save for retirement, invest in your future, and more, it is important to make a plan and stick to it. With smart planning and responsible allocation of your wedding gift funds, you can start your lives together on the right financial foot.

Just Prenups is here to protect families from all walks of life. Click the "Request Consultation" button below.

Warning : All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com.

*A heads-up to those who receive alimony and decide to cohabitate with a new partner: the ex-spouse payor may petition the court to end or to reduce alimony payments as a result of the payee’s cohabitation.

Pet Owners: How To Seamlessly Blend Your Lives Together When Getting Married

Fri, 08 Sep 2023 18:28:00 GMT

Pets bring so much joy to our lives, and many of us consider them part of our families. When you’re planning to get hitched, it’s essential to think about how you can blend your different worlds healthily for your relationship and your pets.

After all, getting married is not just about the two of you when you have your furry companions in tow! Below, JustPrenups discusses how to prepare your pets for the big day, including organizing their medical records, making your home comfortable, managing your stress, and more.

Combine all your pets’ medical records.

To ensure that you and your partner are fully aware of your pets’ health conditions, it’s important to combine all the medical records into PDFs. That way, it will be easier to access and share them with your vet when needed.

You’ll be better equipped to take the necessary precautions to keep your four-legged friends healthy and happy by having all their information in one place. There are plenty of online tools for making and storing PDF files.

Tailor your home to their needs.

Make sure your home accommodates both sets of pets before getting married. This means checking if your pets’ habitats are spacious enough for them and if they have enough toys and areas to play. If you’re renting a home, you may need to take time researching homes that are pet-friendly and large enough to keep everyone comfortable.

If your pets are used to being territorial, you might want to introduce them gradually to each other in stages to avoid fights. Making your home a welcoming space for your pets will ensure they feel safe and secure, even with changes to the family!

While you’re at it, research the world of pet products that can keep your pets healthy and happy at home. Whether it’s toys, food, or CBD, there are plenty of items that are worth the investment.

Keeping your stress down .

Planning a wedding can be highly stressful, and you must keep your stress levels low so that it doesn’t impact your pets. High stress can make your furry companions feel anxious and even depressed.

Try to plan your wedding in manageable stages, delegate responsibilities, and set aside time to spend with your pets. You may even hire a pet sitter on your wedding day so that your pets are well taken care of, even if you’re not at home.

Include them in the ceremony.

If you want to include your pets in your wedding ceremony, there are a few ways to go about it. You could have your pets as part of your wedding party or have them walk down the aisle with you.

Just make sure they’re comfortable and that your plans won’t cost them any undue stress. You could even have a pet wedding cake or party favors for your guests to take home to their furry friends!

Get a pet prenup, or a petnuptial.

Getting a pet prenup is another crucial consideration when tying the knot. This legal agreement outlines how your pets will be treated in the event of a divorce, including “pet custody” and “pet timesharing.”

JustPrenups’ petnuptial may not sound like the most romantic option, but it’s a necessary safeguard to prevent unpleasant surprises should your relationship end. Connect with Just Prenups to learn about our free pet prenup services!

Happy pets are healthy pets.

Few things in life are as exciting as getting married, but you must ensure your pets are happy and comfortable during the process.

By joining your medical records together, making the necessary changes to your home, and implementing the other strategies above, you can create a positive environment for your relationship and pets. Your wedding day will be a joyous occasion for all when you blend your different worlds together in a way that suits everyone!

Schedule a free Zoom consultation with one of our attorneys or mediators at JustPrenups today!

Warning : All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com.

Fee Discounts for Veterans and Military Members

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 06:30:00 GMT

To celebrate the Fourth of July, JustPrenups reminds you of our discount for veterans and military members.

JustPrenups offers this discount to service people because we realize that our military makes many sacrifices as part of their job, including the toll on their personal lives. Unfortunately, relationships and marriages are often the sacrificial lambs of protecting our country. We continue to offer this discount in recognition of veterans’ and military personnel’s efforts. We understand that even a vibrant, dynamic, successful relationship or marriage can be tested both during and after service.

The reality is that military members have a higher divorce rate than the average civilian population. Soldiers are more likely than civilians to end up divorced and to experience more challenges when they go through litigation. Soldiers aren’t the only ones to suffer from service-related stress. The same stressors impact their spouses : “According to a study on military spouse mental health , 1 out of 8 military spouses screened positive for a major depressive episode and 1 out of 6 experienced generalized anxiety . These rates are nearly double the general population and are similar to service members after combat.”

A prenuptial agreement can offer unique reassurance to a serviceperson in keeping all or most potential issues in a divorce or annulment out of family court – a court that soldiers may not be able to attend in person if they are on deployment or otherwise engaged in military duties. Attending an alimony hearing on Zoom simply isn’t the same thing as meeting the judge in person to determine one’s future, especially if the situation is soured, leaving spouses-turned-litigants fighting for their property as they leave the marriage.

Additionally, time away from loved ones and other aspects of military life may take a toll on mental health. Add a litigated divorce to the pile, and your emotional wellbeing can hit its breaking point.

Military divorces create unique challenges for the attorney representing the servicemember. Not all family law attorneys are equipped to deal with the particulars of military divorces, such as handling a Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) or a Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) and dealing with the potential complexities in a military pension. As a result, a soldier may need to hire a far more expensive attorney than a civilian who possesses the usual assets, retirement package, earnings projection, and liabilities, and who will usually be available easily within the country and/or state for hearings.

A pricey attorney is not an inevitable cost for a soldier seeking divorce. There’s a way around divorce litigation costs. The solution is to stop issues from landing in divorce court in the first place through a prenup.

Couples who are married may enter into a postnuptial agreement, which contains largely the same content, function, and effect as a prenup. A postnup is executed at some point after the marriage occurs whereas the prenup is signed before the wedding vows.

In particular, the postnuptial agreement is a good fit for plenty of situations, including not but limited to the scenarios below:

1. A postnuptial contract may provide an ideal solution for a married couple in which one or both partners feel anxiety over the financial future, whether or not there is conflict in the relationship.

2. A postnup may augment the couple’s estate planning and memorialize their intentions for future heirs.

3. A postnuptial agreement can determine the distribution of assets and liabilities as well as cover other relationship grounds, thereby giving the couple time and a structured plan to regroup while they evaluate the future together.

4. A postnup may address financial planning into the future for a military couple who has experienced, or who anticipates, a change of circumstances (such as a new disability), a change of duty, or a change in pay, etc.

5. A postnup may allow you to “ quiet quit ” your marriage, whatever your reasons may be.

May the Fourth be with you as we offer our appreciation for the sacrifices made by our veterans and military servicepeople.

Whether you are in the military or a civilian, you can talk to us about your needs through a free consultation via Zoom.

Not sure if your situation is best suited to a prenup? Need to learn more about a mediated prenup or postnup instead of lawyering up on both sides?

Complete the questionnaire to initiate your free consultation.

Warning : All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com .

Millennials Do It Better: The Millennial Prenup

Fri, 19 May 2023 18:58:00 GMT

THE MILLENIALS’ PARADIGM SHIFT

Millennials have questioned much of what previous generations took for granted, from work-life norms to media consumption, and their attitudes toward relationships and commitment also represent a healthy shift from tradition.

Millennials, as a generation born roughly between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s, do exhibit some unique characteristics and approaches to relationships compared to those of previous generations. While not all individuals within any given generation behave or think the same way, there are nonetheless some general trends observed among millennials’ approaches to committed relationships.

TRUST THY PARTNER

Millennials’ experience of relating to others has been defined through digital connectivity: they have grown up in an era of rapid technological advancement, especially with the proliferation of smartphones and social media. They often rely on online dating apps and websites to meet partners. This generation, more than any other, has daily communicated far more with their partners, including through texts, video calls, and social media interactions.

As a result, millennials are unique in that they possess an unparalleled ability to know exactly whom they are marrying. More than ever before, people can conduct research on their fiancés through their digital footprint.

Plus, millennials spend more time on casual dating than previous generations, which meshes well with their preference for delayed commitment and open communication. They explore options for longer in their dating lives, and they choose partners who support their individual goals, passions, and personal development. Millennials tend to prioritize finding a partner who shares similar interests, values, and aspirations. Compatibility and personal fulfillment are considered essential in their relationships.

Additionally, they know themselves. They often prioritize personal and career goals before settling down. Factors such as financial stability, educational pursuits, and a desire for self-discovery play a role in their decision to postpone marriage. Millennials value personal growth and self-fulfillment. Consequently, their self-knowledge and their time spent getting to know their partners build self-awareness in the context of a relationship.

Media over recent years has noted that millennials have a much lower divorce rate compared to previous generations. Given the above building blocks of their relationships, it’s easy to see why their commitments last.

DISTRUST THY LEGAL SYSTEM

When millennials visit JustPrenups.com, they are more concerned about their future planning than they are about protecting themselves from their future spouses. A prenup might have been synonymous with distrust in previous generations, but not with them.

They already trust their fiancés. But they don’t trust a legal system that may subject them to a hurtful, prolonged, expensive divorce rife with litigation.

Their prenups reflect their dedication to lessening the pain of a potential divorce. Their agreements’ provisions create directions for each partner to navigate the end of the marriage. Their prenups seek to facilitate both partners moving on with fewer hurts. In this regard, the prenup is still evidence of the partners’ care for each other, even through the end of the relationship when they may be in the heat of disappointment, anger, and grief.

BROAD PLANNING FOR A SHARED FUTURE

Millennials see their agreements as an initiative-taking tool for estate and financial planning and as the codification of their expectations for each other. Overall, their generation has an increased acceptance of prenups compared to previous generations, who largely have perceived them as taboo or as indicative of a lack of trust – or even as fostering divorce. In contrast, many millennials see prenups as practical, responsible measures to protect their individual assets and interests as well as a means of negotiating more personal aspects of their marital relationship.

Millennials are more likely to view prenups as a vehicle for achieving fairness and equality within a relationship. Millennials are often more open to customizing prenups to fit their specific needs, goals, and circumstances. They may include provisions for pet custody, social media behavior, or other unique considerations that may not have been common in previous generations.

Compared to previous generations, millennials tend to approach relationships with a more egalitarian mindset. They seek partnerships based on equality and mutual respect, where both partners share responsibilities and make decisions together. They may use prenups to outline financial responsibilities, to address potential power imbalances, and to establish guidelines for property division, spousal support, or other financial matters.

A MAP FOR CONFLICT

Millennials emphasize fairness and transparency in their long-term, committed relationships, which extends to wanting clear terms for any period of separation before filing for divorce. More specifically, they want behavioral standards articulated for the touchy period during which the couple is actively evaluating the future of the relationship. This period may include terms for who leaves the marital home during a separation and what the person is allowed to take from the marital home.

Behavioral standards for this delicate time can include when status may be changed on Facebook, for example, or what sort of social media behavior is appropriate in discussing certain aspects of their lives, or in promoting a business that they created together during the marriage.

DIVORCE IN A BOX…WITH LOVE xoxoxo

Their agreements obviously contemplate the end of the relationship. But their prenups don't end there.

Their agreements may include measures to save the marriage during hard times. Prenups may include provisions that throw a life preserver to the relationship, such as mandating attendance at marital therapy sessions before leaving the marital home.

This focus at JustPrenups is called a divorce in a box. The prenup contains instructions that include explicit language on how to dismantle their lives together, down to the nuts and bolts. For example, at the end of a cohabitating relationship, the couple will need to dispose of property, transfer accounts, decide on paying utilities, and determine how quickly one person will move out and/or sell the house, to name a few.

DIY PRENUPS…WITH HELP

Instead of viewing prenups as adversarial or one-sided, millennials tend to approach the process more collaboratively . They want to work with each other on setting terms instead of watching lawyers volley drafts of the prenup back and forth via representation for each partner.

At JustPrenups, a partner may retain the services of an attorney for representation, as some financial, legal, and family situations are best suited for the traditional model of each partner being represented by different attorneys.

But increasingly, most couples opt for mediation in which they build the bulk of their prenup by themselves with guidance from the mediator to cover important issues. From there, the couple may incorporate the assistance of lawyers to review their draft or use financial advisors to ensure that the agreement is optimal for tax purposes. They usually approach estate attorneys with their completed prenup in hand to make sure that the prenup and their wills work together to memorialize their goals.

If you see yourself in these descriptions, please talk with us to decide if mediation or representation is best.

We offer remote meetings via Zoom to work with your schedule. Complete the questionnaire to initiate a free consultation.

Warning : All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com .

50 Shades of Customized Alimony Provisions

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 05:38:00 GMT

Alimony is not a one-size-fits-all deal in prenuptial agreements or in postnups. Your prenup can provide for customized alimony, otherwise known as spousal support, that is as unique as your circumstances.

Chapter 61 of the Florida Statutes covers prenuptial agreements and allows the parties to draft with respect to the “establishment, modification, waiver, or elimination of spousal support” (Fla. Stat. § 61.079).

While some prenups (and postnups) waive alimony completely, other couples choose other options that are available. Let’s review some couples’ approaches to alimony in martial contracts:

1. Waiver of Alimony

If the couple agrees that neither party should receive spousal sup[port, they can draft the prenup to waive alimony.

2. Limited Alimony

There is no “prefab” version of alimony. Your prenup may limit the amount and/or the duration of alimony. This method sets a “ceiling” for spousal support in identifying the most either spouse with either pay to the other, or it can set a “floor.”

3. Incentivized Alimony

The prenup can also provide an incentive for the higher-earning spouse to pay alimony by offering some benefit to the paying spouse. For example, the prenup could provide that if the higher-earning spouse pays alimony for a certain period of time, the lower-earning spouse will waive some other right or benefit.

4. Triggering Events for Alimony

The prenup can also specify certain triggering events that would require the payment of alimony, such as the birth of a child or a specific length of the marriage. This can help ensure that alimony is only awarded in specific circumstances.

5. Deductibility of Alimony

Alimony is not taxed. According to the IRS, alimony is not deductible for the person paying it and not taxed for the person receiving it (for divorces finalized after January 1, 2019). For information directly from the horse's mouth, here is the IRS site.

6. Replacement Alimony

Are you currently receiving alimony? Scared your next marriage may not last...and you lost your alimony for nothing? Don't fear as long as your prenup (or postnup) includes replacement alimony . We can help with creating terms that best suit your lifestyle and goals.

But beware of a statutory limitation…

The prenup statute mentions this aspect of spousal support:

If a provision of a premarital agreement modifies or eliminates spousal support and that modification or elimination causes one party to the agreement to be eligible for support under a program of public assistance at the time of separation or marital dissolution, a court, notwithstanding the terms of the agreement, may require the other party to provide support to the extent necessary to avoid that eligibility. (Fla. Stat. § 61.079).

A Florida court will not honor a prenup’s clauses regarding alimony if the spouse who waived alimony becomes a dependent of the state. If you believe this situation may occur in the future, now is the time to allocation resources and to partition assets so that the prenup’s goals remain achievable and so that both spouses can resume their lives comfortably after divorce.

Some aspects of this overview of spousal maintenance may seem overwhelming. You're not alone. We can help you to itemize concerns and to figure out the best approach, including our mediated prenup service. Talk with us to decide on the best way of managing the terms for your agreement.

A reminder: your prenup or postnuptial agreement may address alimony, but by law, it may not address child custody or child support. Learn more here about child support and child custody law.

We offer remote meetings via Zoom to work with your schedule. Hit the blue button below to initiate a free consultation.

“Quiet Quit” Your Marriage via a Postnuptial Agreement

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 07:40:00 GMT

If your marriage stands on fragile ground, such as the aftermath of an affair or simply drifting apart, you may be considering your options.

If divorce is too threatening now, but the marriage is too stifling, you may need time alone to rediscover yourselves and each other. Psychologically, your separation may be the right choice to recenter yourselves and possibly to reclaim your relationship chemistry, but pragmatically, there are other considerations.

Specifically, Florida doesn’t allow legal separation. In the state of Florida, like only a few other states, you are *either* married or divorced.

Marital liability doesn’t stop just because you two decide to live apart, perhaps date other people, and essentially become single for a while. The law still sees your finances as a piece of your marital union, debts included.

You aren’t helpless by a long shot, despite Florida’s lack of legal separation. You can still take the reins on your financial planning for possible divorce.

Contracts make the world go round, and they can preserve your financial and psychological health during separation.

In this case, the contract is a postnuptial agreement. Postnuptial agreements, or postnups, are legal contracts created during the marriage (i.e., after the wedding vows) and that are executed upon signing. Prenuptial agreements are the same type of legal contracts, but they are created before the wedding and executed upon marriage. We offer both mediated prenups and mediated postnups.

Your postnup can be the substitute for legal separation by preserving and allocating assets, assigning them to a partner, and determining liability for debts created during this period.

Decide how marital assets should be preserved for a certain partner, or determine how marital assets can be used to enable one partner to leave the marital home without undue financial stress to either partner.

Manage debts. Whether it’s your debt, your partner’s debt, or marital debt (i.e., shared by both of you), now is the time to finalize in writing how you will manage the uglier side of your finances.

Ask yourself if money should be set aside to help one partner get back in the workforce if divorce appears more than likely and record your mutual decision in the postnup.

Decide if the departing partner should be responsible for utilities and repairs at the marital home, or for the costs associated with a pet.

Make choices now, during a period of relative calm, for whether alimony, otherwise known as spousal support, should be part of a divorced settlement and on what terms.

Delineate how your marital property acquired over the years will be divided if divorce occurs.

See if your premarital property (i.e., the assets that you brought into the marriage with you) has become mingled with marital property: now is the time to untangle assets and assign them to a partner. The trick is once you have made such decisions regarding marital versus nonmartial assets in your postnup, you must stick to the rules you have created so that you don’t revert to mingling again.

The catch: under Florida law, you cannot make an independent determination about child support numbers, which are handled by the Florida family law courts. If you insist on drafting some guidance in the postnup about child support, the amount and duration must exceed Florida’s child support calculation guidelines.

Besides your mediator, the expert who can give you the most privacy while calculating these numbers is your CPA. CPAs can guide estranged couples through mandatory financial disclosure in a less adversarial, less threatening setting. They're the best professional to bring with you to mediation. To learn more about CPAs in the context of prenups, postnups, and divorce, read here .

You may also plan for your children’s future in your postnup, whether or not divorce is in the picture, via a trust instrument that is best suited for your unique circumstances.

Your postnup, just like a prenup, may be handled through mediation, which involves both of you working with a mediator, or through representation, which means separate attorneys are representing each partner. To understand more about the differences between mediation versus representation by an attorney, please see our blog post.

Separation may be the best thing for your marriage, or it may be the best thing to put your life back in your control. However, your happiness and standard of living shouldn’t suffer because your marital assets and debts were left hanging in the breeze.

You can control these outcomes more effectively with a postnup so that both sides can feel secure about the future – however the future works out.

To explore your options, please talk with us.

We offer remote consultations via Zoom to work with your schedule. Complete the questionnaire to initiate a free consultation.

Crypto, NFTs, Social Media Accounts, and Domain Portfolios: They’re Assets in a Prenup, Too

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 20:04:00 GMT

By Jen Rakhimov

Any prenuptial or postnuptial agreement is only as good as both partners' integrity in the financial disclosure process. Before signing any marital agreement that pertains to property, both parties need an accounting of what assets they lose when they sign the prenup, as the prenup (or postnup) removes access to what would have otherwise been marital assets. It's unfair to the future spouses to sign a contract that addresses properties, wealth, and debts that are not fully known to both sides.

Consider the process as something analogous to the informed consent doctrine in medicine: before surgery, your surgeon will disclose all the benefits and problems that may result from your surgery. After knowing the worst scenario, you can choose to proceed with surgery or to find other options. Likewise, disclosure between fiancés enable both to see what problems may be ahead (e.g., one partner is being sued) and the range of assets that they will give up through signing the prenup.

If a partner is not forthcoming in providing accurate, thorough disclosure, the prenuptial or postnuptial agreement may no longer be enforceable if it is challenged in divorce court. While someone might intentionally engage in fraud and/or hiding assets, a partner may not realize something is an asset requiring disclosure, or the partner may simply forget. At JustPrenups, our process is designed to help you avoid this problem. or the partner

The items covered in this post are much more volatile than traditional assets, such as a property. Both partners should be aware of this reality: the person who is a paper millionaire in bitcoin at the time of the wedding may have bitcoin that is barely worth anything at the time of the divorce.

While the list below is not exhaustive, the following four assets may be forgotten, as they are not the typical items that most people have in mind when approaching a prenup or postnup. In other words, this ain’t your parents' prenup, and neither is your disclosure.

1. Crypto (cryptocurrency) should be disclosed.

Maybe it's an asset. Maybe it's a liability. Hard to know until you check a headline, or Elon Musk's Twitter, or Lex Fridman’s podcast that day.

Either way, crypto should be disclosed to your partner for your prenup (or postnuptial contract). Follow the baseline that JustPrenups encourages as the best practice: be honest, accurate, and specific. When disclosing the value of your crypto, do the following:

a) For our purpose with a prenup, we are most concerned with the fair market value of assets at the time of your disclosure process. List the fair market value of your total holdings and include the date of valuation, unless you have a reason that you want to list different units/coins individually for your records or at the request of your partner, who may make demands during the disclosure process for types of information, additional information, translations, etc. Look at your platform(s) and/or wallet(s) to assess your holdings, and then check another exchange or some reliable market data to validate your findings.

b) List the date and time of the above valuation and the sources used in valuation. Your partner can conduct research as well with this information, especially given that the value of cryptocurrencies can fluctuate wildly. For your peace of mind, your prenup can include a reminder that the value of any asset at the time of financial disclosure may not be the same value at the time of a divorce, but assets will nonetheless remain non-marital property.

c) For additional clarity and transparency, identify the type of crypto and the number of coins/units. We realize that you will continue to buy and sell, just as you may buy another home, a boat, more stock, etc. after the prenup is signed. That's okay because life goes on. Financial disclosure is designed to give the best financial picture possible at the time of signing the marital contract.

For those with an interest in creating your own crypto, either currently or in the future, your prenup should cover this business so that you hold all intellectual property ("IP"), including the coin itself. You might be the next Dogecoin maker, but your divorce can impair your financial success unless your prenup offer specific protection.

2. NFTs (non-fungible tokens) should be disclosed.

A client recently asked how to value a portfolio of NFTs. Much of the advice above for crypto applies to NFTs as well.

An NFT is a digital asset that can include, for example, visual art and music. Each NFT is verified via a blockchain, which is a decentralized digital ledger or “database” that indexes the NFT as unique, meaning that there isn’t any other digital asset exactly comparable to that particular NFT. For example, you can exchange three dollars for three different dollars, and the value is still the same because dollars are a fungible asset. In contrast, each NFT is uniquely valued depending on its popularity and history, among other factors. The blockchain verification stops people from replicating an NFT and trying to sell it or to use it as an original. Once the NFT is sold to a buyer, the buyer is identifiable and recorded via the blockchain.

a) The first step in listing any asset in disclosure is to determine the fair market value: look at the current sale price of comparable NFTs at more than one reliable marketplace.

b) Describe the NFT as clearly as possible in plain language so that there is no confusion in the event of divorce. Remember, you need to consider that you may face a judge who needs you to make the assets easily identifiable so that time isn't wasted in any disputes. Generally, the NFT will have a name and some unique identifier(s) that set it apart.

c) Always provide the date of valuation for your assets. When did you research and find the value of the NFT(s) that will be listed as assets in your prenup? Include that information in your disclosure worksheets that we provide as part of our process.

If you are an NFT creator, even as a hobby that happens to make income occasionally, you are a business owner , and your prenup should be drafted as such. If you are an NFT creator who has not profited, you have still created IP that may be potentially lucrative even if it isn't right now. Your prenup should address these actual and potential NFTs as well as any other IP you may have, such as that script sitting in your drawer, your plan for a future business that is sitting in your desktop, and your application for patent. While these items are not what you traditionally think of as "prenup worthy," they are just as important as your home and your 401(k) since they hold current and future value.

3. Business-related and/or income-producing social media accounts and handles are intellectual property that require protection as assets.

Your social media holds value as an asset. Your LLC might have several accounts across different types of social media using the same handle on all of them: make sure your hard work pays off so that these items remain yours both during and after the marriage. Any business interest, all business inventory, all business assets, and all business-related IP should be protected in your prenup (or postnup) as much as the business itself.

Additionally, you may have a personal social media account that has enough followers to interest advertisers. If you accept payment for promoting on any of your social media accounts, those accounts are now business accounts, as you are using them to produce income, and you are a business owner. These accounts, personas, and handles need the same protections in a prenup as those associated with a corporation, even if you didn't set out to make your social media a money-making endeavor. Enjoy your success, build it, and make sure it stays yours.

a) As above, provide a valuation of your social media account(s) and handle(s), and list your method of reaching that value. Are you finding an average revenue over recent years from sales or advertising? Do you translate the number of followers into a fair market value for your social media account? Does the value include the amount of website traffic generated or leads generated? Should the value include something that's harder to quantify such as brand awareness?

There isn't a right answer among the methods listed above. But there is a right answer for your financial disclosure for the prenup: what is satisfactory to your partner, who needs to know exactly what assets or what value will be omitted from marital property holdings? Think about which valuation method fits your social media and handle(s) and think about why it fits so that you can articulate why that valuation method yields the most accurate result. Record this information and your date of valuation in the disclosure worksheet that JustPrenups provides.

b) Identify the social media types and the handles associated with your accounts. If you have been changing the presented name or other identifiers, claim those as well.

c) Remember that your prenup can include provisions that punish your partner for bad behavior on the internet pertaining to you, your business(es), your reputation, and your social media. Nothing is worse than ugly drama left on someone's wall by an angry ex. Prenups can be drafted to address such potential bad behavior before it happens and to provide incentives to avoid acting out.

4. Domain Name Portfolios should be disclosed as an asset.

This asset, like the other above, may be difficult to value accurately. Prenups and postnups are invalidated when there is a lack of good-faith disclosure or the failure to name an item, whether tangible or intangible. Your best bet for complicated assets is transparency. If needed, check in with your financial advisor or CPA for advice for any of the items that you disclose.

a) State how you valued your domains and what they are. Consider the fair market value listed on reputable sites. Evaluate the uniqueness, potential revenue generation, and market demand for a particular domain name. Would the domain make a great brand name? Is it short and easy to remember? Is it a clever pun? Research the market demand for comparable domain names and the pricing; try using websites such as NameBio or DNJournal to assist.

b) Remember the value can happen in more than one way. There is the sale value of the domain name, but you can also generate revenue through leasing or licensing the domain name. You might start a website and/or business relevant to a domain name that is trending and then sell the whole package. Be clear about how (i.e., the method and why you’re choosing that method) you’re valuing your domain portfolio once you have totaled your numbers.

c) Consult your attorney, mediator, or financial professional to see how much detail should be included in your disclosures. Check with your partner to see what is satisfactory disclosure. When you have greater detail, you have greater transparency; as a result, the disclosure is more robust, which means your marital contract has strong enforceability if challenged in divorce court.

d) When all else fails, or when valuation seems too ambiguous, ask if your partner wants a professional appraisal on this or any item. Document such requests for more information and offers of additional information related to disclosure, and document how these requests were resolved.

To learn more about prenups and postnups, schedule a free consultation with us .

Warning : All posts on this website and its partner website, DADvocacy.com , contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client relationship between the reader and the DADvocacy™ Law Firm or between the reader and JustPrenups.com .

Nevada vs. Florida: Picking Your Child’s Religion

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 19:12:00 GMT

When creating your prenup there are a lot of areas that need to be discussed and decided on with your legal team. But did you know that choosing the religion of your unborn child could be one of them? In Florida, parents are able to choose the religion of their not yet conceived child in their prenuptial agreement. As simple as this decision seems it could have a huge impact on your child’s future and education. Religion can dictate vaccinations, and the type of school your child attends. Other states such as Nevada do not allow this. So, while you are drafting your prenup make sure you check with your state’s regulations, because choosing religion may be a VERY important topic you were not aware that you needed to discuss.

Candida (Candi) Wadsworth – Delivering Quality Education in Diverse Settings

Active in the South Florida and Las Vegas educational sphere, Candi Wadsworth has held a number of academic leadership positions over the past decade. As principal of a Vertex Education campus from 2020 to 2022, Candi Wadsworth oversaw strategic planning and curriculum goal setting for North Valley (LTS). Working with faculty and administrators, she designed programs that helped improve student performance.

Ms. Candida (Candi) Wadsworth previously spent four years with the Coral Academy of Science Las Vegas’ Nellis Air Force Base Campus as assistant principal. Aligned with Nevada Educators Performance Framework (NEPF) standards, she provided monitoring and mentorship of lead teachers and instructional coaches, while supporting classroom management and instruction. She also helped coordinate tests across the curriculum and oversaw training that met state mandates.

Ms. Wadsworth has extensive experience working in Title 1 schools and increasing student performance and learning gains. Ms. Candi Wadsworth believes every student is capable of being successful, it just takes the right person to teach them in the way that they learn best. We are not creating widgets, we are creating people; therefore, we must realize there is not a cookie-cutter approach to student success.

YOUR HUSBAND HAS A MISTRESS. WHAT TO DO? TO BEAT HER, BE HER . . . THEN PRESENT HIM YOUR POSTNUP

Tue, 14 Feb 2023 06:38:00 GMT

If you are the faithful wife facing an unfaithful husband , this post is for you.

It doesn't matter whether you label that third party the "mistress," the "other woman," the "homewrecker," the "slut," or whatever comes to mind.

What matters is that she and your husband already did the damage .

The future of your marriage is threatened: do you want to stay, which will require both of you to do the work, including some tricky, unpleasant navigation?

Do you want to play just as dirty strategically as the mistress? If you choose this option, you will be playing chess, not checkers, which means those moments of wondering about the mistress’ new highlights, her better skin, her better IQ, and her non-frazzled demeanor all have to go. She probably isn’t exercising more than you are, and she’s probably not a supermodel – that’s not boilerplate consolation for you; it’s literally the truth about most affairs.

The mistress’ perfections aren’t driving the affair. Your husband’s imperfections are, but your husband and the mistress likely don’t know that. You do. You have been present for every setback and disappointment that he encountered in your partnered lives together. You have been present for every time he compromised on what he thought he wanted out of life. Your presence is the mirror that reflects his true self accurately, and if he doesn’t like that self, he’s not going to like you much right now either. The mistress offers the funhouse mirror – one that he designed. He can reveal what he wants to reveal and be a new person without the baggage of those compromises and disappointments. This image is inaccurate, and it’s equally seductive to both your husband and the mistress.

Do you want to leave? Maybe you can't answer because you genuinely don't know. This question is easier to answer if your partner engaged in a short-term fling that had both a beginning and an end date with no future potential and no emotional entanglements.

But that’s not how mistresses work, is it?

The mistress is synonymous an actual affair in which there has been time invested and in which the emotional attachment is thriving. Yet, you can’t call it cheating right now because your husband may not think of it as cheating. Cheating, in his mind, is something that cheaters do…and he’s not that kind of man. No one said this was going to be logical.

Because of your husband’s choices with her, your marital future may not be so straightforward.

Divorce lawyers identify the holiday season and just after as "the mistress season," as mistresses often make themselves known, especially if the cheating husband decides to spend the holiday season in the marital home. The mistress is alone. She may be motivated to do something about it, such as issuing an ultimatum.

Regardless of what the mistress does, the faithful wife will likely find out about the affair sooner or later. When there are holiday gift receipts, for example, there is a higher likelihood of discovery. The receipt might reveal the affair, but so might a hairdresser or waiter, or the neighbor or a friend. Your husband himself might make the grand reveal.

The typical scenario is that the faithful partner finds the incriminating evidence, feels the emotional upheaval, and approaches the straying husband in this agitated – and highly unflattering - state. And why wouldn’t she? Confrontation is best….right?

Nope.

However justified the faithful wife's response may be, the unfaithful husband may weaponize her reaction: "See how you accuse me? You immediately think the worst. See how crazy you are? See how you never asked for my side?"

The faithful wife's reasonable outburst can become fodder for the unfaithful husband to justify the affair: "I go to my mistress to escape you and your behavior."

Each side grows more polarized into their defensive positions, and the divide grows wider. The situation grows worse when the mistress and the unfaithful spouse can now unite against the "crazy" wife – she brought it on herself, right?

Remember that divorce lawyers can be expensive for both sides, especially if you don't have a prenuptial agreement in place.

What now?

If you have discovered infidelity, here's your immediate – not long-range - game plan:

You will not confront anyone, especially not the unfaithful husband. Find a safe place for your rage, grief, loneliness, and shame, such as a therapist's office, where confidentiality is assured.
You will not tell your friends or family. We don't need additional third parties in this mess. These people may or may not know what is in your best interests. They have a high likelihood of advancing their own agendas, insecurities, and protective tendencies.
You will not say a word online, including the using cryptic inspirational quotes. Passive aggression is a bad look on everyone.
You will not mention divorce to anyone.
You will say yes to as much self-care as you can fit into a day. Choose not to be the victim. Have your own back in this.
You will gather as much information as you can about the affair before making accusations or considering a direct confrontation.
Meanwhile, focus on resuming all your interests and your duties at home and at work.

You can rely on something intrinsic to being the faithful wife: you have a longstanding period of trust with your husband, even if he chose to trash it because of a midlife crisis or his failure to heal childhood wounds. Most likely, your cheating husband still trusts you and your time together more than he trusts his mistress, who has shown that she is fine with deceit. The mistress by comparison is a novel figure, full of mystery and therefore potential, which is the majority of her appeal. Capitalize on his trust right now ; do not push his limits at this delicate juncture.

Use this time to present a postnuptial agreement calmly. At this time, you have said nothing about an affair or about divorce; keep it that way. Your cheating husband likely has some remorse over the betrayal, so he may be open to a better divorce outcome for you - if you approach him without drama and without accusations or assumptions.

Unfortunately, if you as the faithful wife act out with sadness or anger, the cheating husband may retreat further away from your trust bond. Similarly, if you try to control the situation, you will drive him further away, as Laura Doyle, author of the Empowered Wife Podcast, learned the hard way . Laura is a relationship coach and New York Times bestselling author who took her own advice when she was facing divorce and saved her marriage.

You, as the faithful wife, should ideally present a postnup that is favorable to you as a mom, even though child custody is specifically addressed by a formula managed by the court. The postnup is presented as merely an option, but an optimal one, since at some point in the future, you two may or may not divorce – make sure to state this practical position calmly and aloofly.

Interestingly in this regard, both you as the faithful wife and the mistress are united in a common position: your husband can get out of the marriage via this postnup. The burden is now on your cheating husband to find a resolution, one way or the other.

If you do want to continue the marital relationship, realize that you are in a marketing campaign for your marriage. Marketing campaigns are image-based with curated messages that highlight some aspects on center stage while moving other facts to the rear stage. Decide where and how the spotlight should fall on you, and then act the part.

There is another burden on you in taking this strategy. You must adopt steps to protect yourself from you. At this level of betrayal and high stress, acting out is the last thing you want. Don’t become the crazy, awful persona that justifies your cheating husband’s perceptions. You can’t let yourself get to the point of snapping as acting out can kill any chance of reconciliation, and it can kick your self-esteem in the teeth. Laura Doyle offers group support and group coaching, both of which can restore sanity and functionality quickly.

Talking with a therapist or coach may show you that you don't want to stay with an unfaithful partner who might ditch you again and who has already cut away a chunk of your self-worth. Consider a marriage coach to assess the damage and to see what can be salvaged and to see if you, as the faithful spouse, want to continue the marital relationship.

*We know these terms have substantial baggage with a misogynistic history; in fact, all these terms are loaded (see this Dictionary.com article about these terms, which is NSFW reading, given the strong, explicit language).

Warning : All posts on this website and its partner website, DADvocacy.com , contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client relationship between the reader and the DADvocacy™ Law Firm or between the reader and JustPrenups.com .

The post Your Husband has a Mistress. What to do? To beat her, BE her . . . then present him your Postnup. appeared first on Justprenups .

Your intellectual property, marriage, and Jack Ryan

Thu, 05 Jan 2023 08:27:00 GMT

Remember that novel you wrote in college? The manuscript sits in your personal file in the desktop, and pillow talk with your partner occasionally involves a dreamy discussion of the manuscript's future. You give the details of the plot to your partner (or spouse), who encourages you to pursue publication.

You could be the next Tim Burton or J.K. Rowling. Why shouldn't you get your accolades and profits after all the coursework you completed and the hours you spent writing?

Of course, you might be the next Tom Clancy if your prenup, antenuptial, postnuptial, or cohabitation agreement never covered such intellectual property. Clancy created the character, Jack Ryan, who then became the subject of an intellectual property custody battle during Clancy’s divorce.

As you face divorce, your soon-to-be former spouse or partner, who contributed only verbal encouragement here and there, will now benefit from the rights to your novel. Divorce means that not only will you lose exclusive ownership of the novel that has been your companion through your college and post-graduate years, but you will also lose a lifetime of profit from your efforts across all media platforms.

“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

-Mike Tyson

Don’t assume that ownership of potentially profitable ideas will simply take care of itself or somehow “just work out.” A breakup may entail disputes that you never thought would occur.

A marital (prenup or postnup) or cohabitation agreement can cover more than the typical finances and physical property. Intellectual property ("IP") refers to items that result from your mental labor or your creativity, such as ideas or items that have the potential for profit in, for example, artistic, technological, business , or medical arenas.

IP may include, but isn't limited to, business ideas, tentative or actual business plans, aesthetic/artisan/creative ideas, copyrights, patents, drafts or approximations of any creative endeavors, publications, designs, trademarks, prototypes, beta versions, finished products, blueprints, trade secrets, patent submissions, and innovations that may or may not be eligible for patent status. IP may include trade secrets, such as your current client list for your business, or the 3D-printed prototype for the next skateboard your business will release.

Your prenuptial or postnup agreement can make sure that ownership of your IP, including future IP that you have not yet created, will reside solely in you as the party who is the originator of the concept or creator of the product. Your agreement can protect your rights to the assets that can derive therefrom; in the case of the novel described above, you can protect your rights to all royalties, including across translations, formats (e.g., digital and paper), and development into other media, such as television, movies, and franchises. The same applies to business plans, technological ideas, medical products, and more.

Tom Clancy, the famous novelist, experienced not only the pain of divorce, but the loss of his intellectual property, including book series and even computer games derived from his work. At the time of his divorce litigation in 1998, the Los Angeles Times characterized this issue succinctly: “These fruits of Tom Clancy’s imagination have become the potential spoils in a complicated case in which family law collides with intellectual property law.” The take-away lesson is that you can avoid this situation through a prenup. While you can’t make a custody arrangement for existing or future children in your prenup or postnup, you *can* determine the custody of your IP well in advance of any marital issues and before the materialization of any creative effort.

Let's say one spouse assists the other in the development of the IP, or a couples becomes collaborators unwittingly - partners share in their significant others' projects and interests. The couple will have to decide on where collaboration begins and ends and with what consequences: who owns what into the future? Your agreement can demarcate explicitly in writing the ownership, or interest percentages, and/or rights to any resulting assets, and you can, for example, put timeframe or geographical limits.

But what about domain names, business websites, client lists, contractors privy to relevant confidential information, social media names, and online content? What about ownership of other promotional materials? Is there any type of inventory that both spouses can claim in the absence of a pre/postnup or other contract? What about communications from or about the business, or the future of the artistic IP's development? What if you need to sell the IP to satisfy creditors, or one party simply sees the money and decides it's time to cash in? If one spouse retains the business or creative material, can the other spouse “compete” in the same or similar conceptual arena?

Human capital matters too. The couple can make arrangements so that both sides are treated fairly for their efforts; for example, the owner of the IP may agree in writing to compensate a contributing spouse, especially if the spouse took a low-paying, unsatisfactory job to enable the creator/business spouse to develop the IP or to push a start-up into Silicone Valley stardom.

Your prenup or postnup agreement can protect your IP on additional levels: the couple can agree to treat all such shared IP as confidential between the spouses, such that either party cannot convey sensitive or competitive aspects of the IP to a third party, unless the owner grants permission in writing. Such a provision is the equivalent of an "NDA" or a non-disclosure agreement that companies often require from their workers. For example, if you own a business with trade secrets or patents that are integral to the competitive edge and thus the financial success of the business, such a clause is essential to encourage appropriate behaviors by both parties in the aftermath of a divorce, in addition to a social media clause .

The “Pet-nuptial” as Prenup, or How to Ensure Your Pets’ Care and Future

Tue, 03 Jan 2023 05:22:00 GMT

While Florida law does not allow marital contracts and cohabitation agreements to cover child custody or related timesharing agreements, you can plan for your furry and feathered children through four different options:

· As part of your prenuptial agreement, or

· As part of your postnuptial agreement, or

· As part of your cohabitation agreement, or

· As a separate pet-specific agreement that addresses only pet custody, aka the “pet-nup” (or “petnup”) possibly in combination with a pet trust.

The law allows you to draft your prenuptial, postnuptial, or cohabitation agreement to assign ownership of an animal to a specific partner and to designate related responsibilities to the partner(s). Your cohabitation or marital agreement can elaborate on the visitation rights of the partner who doesn’t live with the pet after the breakup and that partner’s financial contribution to the maintenance of the pet. The law considers pets to be assets , but we know that they are really our family members who need care into the future, whether or not a relationship survives.

Some of the finer petnuptial points may need consideration:

1. Who pays for pet insurance?
2. How much does each partner pay toward pet food, catnip, and the dog groomer?
3. Will the animal be boarded during the custodial pet-owner’s vacation, or can the other partner have the first right to host?
4. How much money should partners put aside in a joint account for deductibles, copays, and emergencies?
5. What are the terms of the pet’s living will and end-of-life expenses? An emergency can happen anytime, but the reality of budgets needs consideration before any critical event.
6. What if the custodial pet parent becomes physical, mentally, or financially unable to care for the animal? Does the non-custodial pet parent have the first right to ownership? If the non-custodial pet parent isn’t a choice, should your agreement name an agreeable third party?
7. If you opt for shared custody, who gets to take which pet-related items? For example, who gets the doggie shower kit, or who can take the helper steps to the bed for your pet with a disability?

Your pet-nuptial can cover behavioral issues for the humans involved, such as rules for the pet that both partners must observe. Think if you need to include the following types of provisions so that both partners agree:

1. To follow the prescribed medication routine, unless otherwise directed by a qualified veterinarian, and to consult with the other custodial pet parent if a party contemplates medication changes as potentially necessary.

2. To agree on norms for the pet’s hygiene, such as brushing the pet’s teeth.

3. To continue the prescribed or otherwise agreed-upon diet for the animal, unless nutrition changes are approved in writing by both parties, including medically necessary treat schedules to maintain the pet’s weight.

4. To bring the animal to an agreed-upon veterinarian for routine visits and non-serious sick visits, and to find options for emergency vets in each party’s area.

5. To meet the daily threshold of exercise required for the pet’s health and happiness.

6. To agree on places for boarding or on individuals for pet-sitting duties.

7. If the pet was purchased during the couple’s relationship, examine the receipt, rescue papers, and/or the breeder’s certificate: whose name is on these papers indicating ownership ? Is your agreement reiterating this ownership or extending it to the other partner? Should any certificate be changed to reflect ownership accurately? Your goal should be to remove incentives to argue, such as these essential ownership documents that are in conflict.

If you want to learn more about this type of agreement, especially through mediation , please consider a free consultation with us.

Warning : All posts on this website and its partner website, DADvocacy.com , contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client relationship between the reader and the DADvocacy™ Law Firm or between the reader and JustPrenups.com .

The post The “Pet-nuptial” as Prenup, or How to Ensure Your Pets’ Care and Future appeared first on Justprenups .

Prenup/Postnup for the Stay-At-Home Mom/Stay-At-Home Dad

Tue, 27 Dec 2022 05:56:00 GMT

A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can relieve anxieties and fears for couples who have decided that one partner should be the stay-at-home parent. A family with a stay-at-home parent must consider support issues for their future planning, especially since Florida is a state that has considered alimony reform . As of this publication, Florida does not have alimony reform, as Governor DeSantis vetoed this measure, which passed through the legislature for a third time on June 24, 2022. Former Governor Scott vetoed similar alimony reform bills in 2013 and 2016. Since alimony reform will likely be revisited in Florida, stay-at-home parents and their partners must make their intentions for the future known on paper.

While no one enters a marriage already assuming divorce, everyone should be a realist and a pragmatist for the same reason you should look both ways before crossing the street. Both spouses should confront the possibility of alimony becoming a destructive force in either person’s life (i.e., getting too little to sustain one’s usual lifestyle or paying so much that one’s quality of life is compromised).

The stay-at-home spouse gives up the most essential, productive, game-changing years of working, including years spent building the foundation of one’s career, promotions, making contacts, developing networks, creating a resume that translates into increasing salaries, and commanding the most money. While the stay-at-home parent is focused on caretaking, the work world is changing, and employers continue to have new technological expectations of workers every year. Remember that the stay-at-home parent gives up all, or a substantial portion, of benefits, retirement, and income that includes raises and bonuses that would have occurred had the person remained in the workforce.

In addition, the stay-at-home parent often loses the chance to build one's own business. Even if the stay-at-home parent succeeds in creating a business, the revenue is unlikely to match what is possible without the full-time hours of being a caretaker.

If you, your spouse, or your fiancé intends to be a stay-at-home parent after divorce, your prenup or postnup must be drafted to include the ex-partner’s future earnings as alimony to sustain the stay-at-home parent, regardless of whether that parent eventually returns to the workforce. Even if stay-at-home parents go back to work after the divorce, they are usually earning at a substantially lower rate after time off from careers.

Besides agreeing on alimony provisions, couples should decide on assets for the stay-at-home parent. Your prenup or postnup should clarify if the stay-at-home parent and children will remain in the marital home. Other basic considerations should include drafting to maintain beneficiary status for the stay-at-home parent, despite divorce, and what will happen if either parent encounters illness or disability that could interfere with providing financial support or caretaking. Other considerations can be more complex and particular to your resources, such as whether one spouse will provide for the education or training for the stay-at-home parent to return to the workforce at an improved pay rate.

JustPrenups can assist with either a prenup or a postnup. We walk both partners through the relevant considerations for families with a stay-at-home parent. Our process is designed to be thorough without overwhelming you and to create layers of protection in maintaining the validity of your agreement.

Your first consultation is free so that you have a chance to meet us and to discuss your needs.

Warning: All posts on this website and its partner website, JustPrenups.com , contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client relationship between the reader and the DADvocacy™ Law Firm or between the reader and JustPrenups.com .

Who Should Move Out? Planning for the Worst Times During your Best Times

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 18:58:00 GMT

Have you driven a car on a highway without car insurance?

Did you wear a seatbelt the last time you were in a car?

Do you lock your doors before bedtime?

Did you buy homeowners insurance?

Do you ensure that your children have medical coverage?

These questions point to obvious answers about everyday situations that carry potentially life-altering risks, and rarely do we ever consider gambling our outcomes with the above scenarios. The same caution should apply to another life-altering situation: marriage, which brings with it the possibility of divorce.

The equivalent of a seatbelt or insurance for marriage is a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, either of which may protect you from the "blunt force trauma" of divorce. A prenup is signed before the wedding vows. A postnup includes the same material in the contract, except that it is signed after the wedding vows. The difference between the two documents rests in the timing of the signatures.

In popular culture, the prenup or postnup directs outcomes for financial holdings and tangible property, such as homes and cars. This view of nuptial agreements is accurate, as prenups and postnups cover these issues; however, this view is incredibly limited. Nuptial agreements can also help couples to navigate the most emotionally painful and cognitively tricky time in a troubled relationship. A prenup or postnup can address behaviors during the most volatile period of separation.

If you and your spouse decide to consider ending your marriage, you might not rush into divorce right away, but you both will likely opt to pursue separation. One of you will leave the home that you share together.

Who leaves?

At JustPrenups, we rely on decades of experience to examine each spouse's unique situation so that this question is already answered and finalized in writing.

Our template for postnups and prenups addresses other questions that are context-specific so that you don't have worry about such issues during your most conflicted times:

Who has a convenient new place readily available, such as a nearby parent's or sibling's home? Is this the best option for a move-out scenario, or should other options be considered or developed?
Who bears most of the burden for childcare and/or elder care, and how should the spouses divide this labor during a break-up?
Would dependents remain in the marital home, or leave with the relocating spouse?
Does either spouse have health conditions that affect one's ability to relocate?
Is one spouse dependent on the other for financial support? Should there be an agreement about financial support while the spouses live separately before the divorce or reconciliation?
What happens to any jointly held bank accounts and credit cards that either spouse may need for living costs?
Should the partners be obligated to undergo several marital therapy sessions before proceeding with a divorce attorney?

Our contracts settle additional complications that the process of separation introduces:

What is the relocating person allowed to take from the marital home? The moving-out process can raise concerns about who owns specific personal property. For example, what if the remaining spouse owns the four-figure, luxury space heater, but the relocating spouse packed it?
Should marital assets pay for a new place, its utilities, and its other requirements (e.g., needing sheets, towels, dishes, cleaning products, etc.) while you two decide whether to proceed with divorce or whether to reconcile?
Does the relocating spouse pay for utilities at the marital home? Are there complications to be sorted if a partner's name is on the utility bills at both locations? Remember that failure to pay any bill registered in your name will result in damage to your credit score.
Should the couple invest in separate phone plans during this time? Are there other jointly held services that should be terminated?
How would both of you feel about changing the locks to the marital home after a spouse leaves, or at all? Can a remaining spouse change the passwords to the security features?
How long does the relocating spouse have to move out completely if you decide on divorce?
Must either spouse surrender certain items to the other before departure or before filing for divorce, such as a car or technology?
What are the boundaries for the relocated spouse regarding the marital home during a separation if you have not decided whether to proceed with divorce? Does one spouse maintain exclusive use of the marital home during this time, or do you both retain access, but on a schedule?
Are either of you allowed to date once you are living in separate residences?
If you own the home jointly, does the relocating spouse still have access to perform or help with upkeep to retain the value of the home? Is the relocating spouse required to contribute financially for such upkeep, such as cleaning or landscaping or other necessary services, such as plumbing and roof repair?
Should you file taxes separately, depending on how long the period of living apart lasts?
When is a partner allowed to change relationship status descriptors on social media? What can be said on social media, if anything at all, during the separation period prior to filing for divorce?

Even though the partners decided upon one moving out, the marriage itself may or may not be over. The marriage may be rehabbed through time apart, or it may become irretrievably broken. Your behavior throughout this time determines much of the outcome, including whether the couple considers reconciliation.

Respectful, patient consideration of the other's needs is key here. Assumptions about the other person must be left at the door, no matter how long you have known each other. Can toxicity in your relationship be overcome? Are you both allowed to be yourselves in a way that doesn't negate the other person? Neither of you can rush the process of building new communication methods and creating new boundaries for your behaviors, and many turn to the guidance of a therapist, a coach, a religious leader, or some trusted third party.

When touchy logistical decisions are already made, there is less opportunity to fight over them. Our prenuptial and postnuptial agreements deal with the planning above and more so that you and your partner can invest energy on deciding your futures together or apart. The lists above are not exhaustive, as your contract is customized to you as a couple. The separation period in a relationship is delicate, and that's why JustPrenups seeks to be as concrete as possible. The "rules of engagement" are written in your best times so that your troubled times do not needlessly introduce more harm.

Warning: All posts on this website and its partner website, the DADvocacy™ Law Firm , contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com

Marry Your Boo, Marry Their Student Loans? Yes, That Is the Law in Florida

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 16:25:00 GMT

Your upcoming marriage is just one more piece of the path that you and your fiancé have created together. You want to pursue your dreams side by side and to help each other along the journey.

If you are already married, perhaps your spouse is rethinking careers and wants to return to school.

Let’s say that your spouse wants to become a CPA and needs more education, or let’s say your spouse has decided to pursue law school, medical school, or to train extensively in a trade. Now the reality is that *both* of you will be pursuing an education because of the impact on your lives and finances as a unit.

Not only will you both be impacted during the school years, but after as well: under Florida law, you share the school debt together. Pursuant to the requirements of Florida Statute §61.075(1), if you and your partner divorce without a prenup or postnup, both partners assume liability for the student loan debt. Florida’s family courts hold that student loan debt incurred during the marriage is a marital liability. As a result, this debt must be distributed equally: “[I]n distributing the marital assets and liabilities [emphasis added] between the parties, the court must begin with the premise that the distribution should be equal.” Fla. Stat. § 61.075 .

In addition, certain professions may have limitations on ways that non-practitioners can be financially involved. In other words, the financial potential of a degree may not be available to those who do not have the degree and licensure. Let’s illustrate this point below.

For example, if your spouse obtained a law degree, you are paying for the law degree as much as the new lawyer, regardless of whether you can actually afford the debt. As a non-lawyer, you cannot purchase the value of, or invest in, any share of your ex-spouse’s law firm because the profession’s ethics code does not allow non-lawyers to have an interest in a law firm. Non-lawyers are also barred from a firm’s revenue-sharing. Given these constraints, you and your partner require a prenup or postnup to establish terms for who will be liable for student debt.

A new career goal, such as the law degree above, can bring wealth and more stability to your home and to future generations of your family. Apart from dealing with the consequences of school debt after the degree, the immediate challenge is getting through the educational years with both your finances and your relationship intact.

When one person sacrifices for the other’s dream, there is always the risk of potential resentments brewing - even if the two of you agreed on this situation wholeheartedly. Why? Because the finer nuts and bolts of day-to-day living, household responsibilities, debt, and other financial obligations may hit hard once you are both in the thick of the situation. Financial strain from only one significant income - especially if you are used to two incomes - can rattle even the strongest of marriages.

No one can take away the challenging aspects of putting a spouse through school. However, at JustPrenups, we can help you to define your financial and other limits both during and after the degree. A solid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can specify the terms for each partner when one pursues educational goals and is dependent upon the other spouse’s contribution of financial and emotional support as well as household labor.

Your agreement can indicate whether the spouse in school needs to repay the supporting spouse, how such repayment should happen, and by when. Not all couples will be interested in repayment, but for others, it will be essential to maintain harmony in the relationship.

Only you know what will work for both of you as a couple. Your prenup or postnup - and JustPrenups' step-by-step process and review - keeps your communication clear and transparent to each other. While that doesn't sound sexy, it does sound loving to look out for each other's best interests and to build a future together with your eyes on the prize.

At JustPrenups, we can help with a mediated prenup or a mediated postnup. The JustPrenups intake procedure guides you through the process of articulating your goals, fears, and hopes and finalizing them in an agreement.

Your consultation with us is free .

Prenups and postnup are not only about the status of alimony or the disposition of large assets; they are about those things that determine your happiness together.

We look forward to hearing about your goals.

Warning : All posts on this website and its partner website, the DADvocacy™ Law Firm, contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com or DADvocacy™ Law Firm.

Beware Your Beneficiaries: What Your Prenuptial Agreement Doesn’t Fix

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 05:33:00 GMT

Signed your prenuptial or postnuptial agreement? Is the ink dry? That's a step in the right direction, but you still have not completely covered your assets properly.

Your prenuptial or postnuptial agreement prepared you for one of the worst-case scenarios in your lives as a couple: divorce. To an extent, your prenup/postnup agreement performed some estate planning duties. However, this prenuptial or postnuptial agreement alone is not sufficient to ensure the proper disposal of assets.

You still need a will to dispose of your assets according to your wishes. In addition, you must name - and update regularly - the beneficiaries of your life insurance policy, your pension plan, your retirement program, and so on.

For example, John and Linda, both previously married and divorced, signed a prenuptial agreement before they married and altered their will accordingly. However, neither spouse updated certain assets to include the new spouse's name as the beneficiary. If John or Linda dies, the surviving spouse could be in for a rough ride of challenges and unnecessary litigation and so could the children of either marriage.

Take the same scenario with a twist: John and Linda remain married for seven years. They divorce, and in time, John remarries Abby; however, he never removes Linda's name as the beneficiary of his pension plan and his life insurance policy. John wrongly assumed that the divorce automatically negated Linda's status as beneficiary. John should have checked the impact of federal and his state’s law on his assets and the status of his beneficiaries.

Divorce may not automatically nullify the status of any listed beneficiary on your assets .

A will cannot automatically change a beneficiary.

A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement does not remove or institute beneficiaries simply by virtue of being signed and drafted.

Your best move is to avoid ambiguity: take the initiative to contact the administrators of your assets that list a beneficiary. See for yourself that the proper person is designated. Even if your divorce decree includes a stipulation as to beneficiary status, you should still take the lead in your life affairs by contacting administrators for assets that list a beneficiary to check that the right people are listed.

As you age, you may need to add the name of a different partner, a child, or another person. Schedule an “asset tune-up” once a year in the same way you review your annual credit report to check for mishaps.

In addition, you and your spouse may wish to provide an added layer of protection: consider executing an agreement that covers assets requiring a beneficiary. For example, you may create an agreement together to ensure that a spouse will remain named as the life insurance beneficiary during and after the marriage; that the insured will not change the value of the policy at any time unless permission is given in writing by the beneficiary; and that the insured will not surrender the policy for cash value unless permission is given in writing by the beneficiary.

In terms of overall thoroughness, you and your spouse should check that your prenuptial or postnuptial agreement's terms mesh neatly with your listed beneficiaries, your wills, and any trusts if you have one or if you are the beneficiary. Remember that the most recently drafted document is normally the document that controls, which means if you execute your prenuptial agreement and later your spouse executes a will with a provision that conflicts with your prenup, you may have trouble ahead. You can avoid these obstacles through reviewing these major life documents yourselves and/or with an attorney.

Warning : All posts on this website and its partner website, the DADvocacy™ Law Firm , contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com or DADvocacy™ Law Firm .

Cross-Cultural Perceptions of Prenuptial Agreements

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 19:58:00 GMT

"What will my girlfriend think of me if I ask for a prenup?"

"How do I ask my boyfriend to sign a prenup?"

"How do I bring up a premarital agreement with my engaged adult child?"

"Will my partner be upset or angry if I talk about a postnup?"

It might be easier than you think...

In 2021, researchers Lynsey K. Romo and Noah Czajkowski published their study on cultural perceptions of prenuptial agreements, which have been stigmatized for decades, as if the existence of a couple's prenuptial agreement would necessarily suggest a lack of trust between the partners or distasteful ulterior motives at play.

But the times are changing, as Dr. Romo and Mr. Czajkowski discovered through an inventive method: they analyzed the linguistics used by "Redditors" when discussing prenuptial agreements. Reddit is a world-wide online messageboard.

Specifically, the researchers focused on the type of metaphor the Redditor used when discussing prenuptial agreements. A metaphor , according to the online Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is "a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them."

The study's analysis relied on metaphors because metaphors "guide individuals’ everyday thinking and behaviors" to make abstract concepts into a more concrete reality. Images employed in the metaphors suggest the connotations, not the denotations, that a person associates with prenuptial agreements. The connotations indicate the emotions coloring the Redditor's perception of prenuptial agreements.

For those who are not familiar with this messageboard, Reddit describes itself as "the front page of the internet." Nearly any topic is valid, depending on whether you can find the thread for it.

The researchers' stated purpose was to obtain "valuable insight into how people rationalize something that remains taboo and stigmatized in society, despite [prenups'] potential benefits to people’s interpersonal and financial well-being."

Dr. Romo and Mr. Czajkowski employed what they call a "reflexive thematic analysis of user-generated Reddit threads and a sensemaking lens" in this study.

In this study, the majority of the analyzed discussion ranked prenuptial agreements as favorable; however, some naysayers still clung to their position that prenups remain distasteful, and they used terms that "compar[ed prenuptial agreements] to escape or back up plans and harbingers of doubt."

The good news is that the majority of Redditors "viewed prenups as beneficial, conceptualizing them as a safety net (a form of insurance or prevention) or [an] essential contract," which would be something akin to a contract establishing a business partnership.

For example, some Redittors spoke about a prenup as a safety net. For them, "not having a prenuptial agreement was as irresponsible as being uninsured," and they believed a prenup was simply "a prudent, responsible aspect of getting married and even of demonstrating love to one another." In this regard, a prenup existed as a neutral entity, such as car insurance or health insurance. Along these lines, some Redditors compared a prenup to air bags in a car. Prenups bore no stigma for people who thought in these safety net metaphors.

For Redditors who saw a prenup as an essential contract, they perceived marriage as not only an emotional and physical union, but "a financial partnership" too in joining two lives, which made the prenup "an essential component of a fair and committed relationship." These Redditors perceived a prenup as a responsible act toward a partner, a "sign of love and commitment."

The researchers' conclusions point to the need for couples to treat money as one more facet of a romantic union. Finances deserve as much discussion as wedding venue details and whether/when to have children. The study's "findings...underscore the need to destigmatize prenuptial agreements in order to encourage premarital conversations about money."

In evaluating the metaphors used to talk about prenups, the researchers uncovered the "hot spots" regarding couples' comfort with talks about money. In their work, Dr. Romo and Mr. Czajkowski uncovered "many myths...that could prevent people from preemptively talking about money and financial goals with their partner," which, in turn, can foster the stigma surrounding prenuptial agreements.

The researchers recommend that couples should reconceptualize "prenuptial agreements...as less about protecting assets and more as conduit for having important conversations about money prior to (re)marriage."

The published study cites the 2016 work, "Rethinking premarital agreements: A collaborative approach," of E.R. Carter in the New Mexico Law Review: "[A] prenup can help [to] combat the money taboo that can keep finances off limits to the detriment of romantic relationships." Carter emphasized that couples can "adopt an estate planning model that emphasizes joint goals and expectations and collaboration for the good of the relationship."

At JustPrenups.com, when discussing prenups and postnups, we emphasize teamwork in reaching shared goals. If this approach resonates with you, please contact us for a free consultation to learn about our process.

Warning : All posts on this website and its partner website, the DADvocacy™ Law Firm , contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com or DADvocacy™ Law Firm .

The post Cross Cultural Perceptions of Prenuptial Agreements appeared first on Justprenups .

But Who Gets the Tesla?

Tue, 27 Sep 2022 05:52:00 GMT

When James came home to see the electrician drilling in the outside wall, he had questions. He asked his spouse, Matthew, what was wrong with the electricity. James told him that there was nothing wrong, and that a surprise was coming.

An hour later, a silver Tesla parked outside the home - James’ dream car had come to life. “Happy anniversary!” Matthew yelled. “It’s all yours,” he said to James. “We have our own charging station too,” Mathew explained about the electrician's visit.

The Tesla became James’ pride and joy, and he drove it nearly every day. Neither James nor Matthew thought much of this development.

They did not think about the content of the prenuptial agreement that they had signed nine years prior and never looked at again.

They did not think about the fact that the Tesla’s title was still in Matthew’s name, and that Matthew made the monthly payments on the car and also paid for all of the maintenance.

When the unthinkable happened and they began to talk about going their separate ways, James indicated that he would move out and bring his belongings with him, including the Tesla.

James had a definite opinion: “You’re not bringing the Tesla. Why would you? It’s obviously mine. I drive it every day. You’re the one who gave it to me.”

“I bought it so that you could enjoy using it and having your dream, but it was never intended to be yours forever, and that’s why the title has always been in my name - without complaint from you,” Matthew explained. “Plus, I paid for everything on that car without any contribution from you - that's all my money.”

The hypothetical situation above is exactly the situation you want to avoid. It is why people draft prenuptial and postnuptial agreements in the first place, and it is why couples should update those agreements.

Here is how it went wrong for our hypothetical couple:

1. The couple never updated their prenuptial agreement.

· Long-term couples need to evaluate their prenuptial or postnuptial agreement periodically as they acquire assets, debts, businesses, and changes in family members over time - all of which impact the contents and the intended effects of a prenup or a postnup.

· This evaluation gives the couple time to take note of changes in relevant statutes and case law that could negatively impact or possibly benefit them. Additionally, couples may have changing intentions over time for certain assets or for any number of clauses in their agreement.

· Here at JustPrenups, we can take your existing prenup or postnup and help you to evaluate its terms. We can make the process simpler and more straightforward to assess your current assets and liabilities and to tailor your agreement to your life as it is right now.

2. The Tesla was a significant asset, but the couple never determined whether it operated as a gift in the marriage or as an investment for one party only.

· There was never a meeting of the minds over who owned the car and could call the shots on its future.

· One partner relied on his observations of behavior to reach his conclusion. The other partner relied on a paper trail to reach his conclusion. Both genuinely held their convictions about the true owner of the Tesla. Both reached their conclusions through logical means.

· When a couple lives in harmony, such divergence can go undetected, but in times of conflict, it may be the start of expensive litigation.

A properly worded and regularly updated prenup or postnup can avoid the kinds of misunderstandings and hurt feelings that give rise to lengthy, expensive divorce proceedings.

An agreement can address what is an interspousal gift and what is not, especially for significant assets such as jewelry, homes and cars.

More importantly, a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement is always a living thing: together as a couple you have the power to affirm or to change the terms that you previously created as your lives unfold.

Warning : All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com .

No Ordinary Asset: The Restaurant Owner’s Divorce

Thu, 15 Sep 2022 19:30:00 GMT

As a divorce lawyer, I’ve had the privilege of representing many small business owners. Restaurant owners are my hands down favorite because restaurants are held together by hearts and souls. Restaurants bear witness to friendship, love, and celebration: young couples on first dates, families celebrating birthdays, the neighborhood baseball team grabbing a bite after a tough game.

More than any other type of business, restaurant owners bring all of themselves to their businesses. Unfortunately, that means a restaurant is no ordinary asset when it comes to dividing it in a divorce. The emotional impact of a divorce takes its toll on both the owner and the business. Worse, the attorney’s fees related to the disposition of a restaurant can exceed the value of the restaurant itself.

The two greatest risks to a restaurant during the owner’s divorce are accusations of unreported cash income or of code violations that put patrons at risk. Business owners in a difficult divorce may find that the worst accusations come from their own spouse. They may hope that the judge will stop or correct their vindictive spouse, or that the judge can remedy any damage to the business. Neither is true; the divorce judge will be part of the problem. The judge will likely require that the restaurant disclose extensive confidential information regarding its finances and operations so that the value of the business and the owner’s true income can be determined. This will be in accordance with nearly every state’s law on financial disclosure in divorce. Not only are the disclosure requirements intrusive, they can be incredibly burdensome. The restaurant will likely need its own attorney to satisfy the court’s orders. In the worst possible case, the judge may decide that neither spouse can be trusted to run the restaurant, and appoints a paid receiver to operate it instead.

To help protect the restaurant from a terrible time in divorce court, a restaurant owner who is engaged to marry should hire a lawyer to write a customized prenuptial agreement that speaks to the future growth of the restaurant, and its valuation, division, ownership and control. If you plan on acquiring an interest in a restaurant, and you are already married, you need a postnuptial agreement that does the same thing. Examples of language specific to protecting restaurant owners include: confidentiality clauses to protect proprietary recipes and formulas; damages clauses that specify the amount the owner will receive if their spouse attacks the restaurant on social media; clauses to account for any “sweat equity” for unpaid work the nonowner spouse performed; and traditional noncompete clauses delineating a geographic area where the nonowner spouse may not open a competing restaurant. You should consult a divorce attorney licensed in your state who has experience representing businesses, and ideally, restaurants in particular. That attorney can customize a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement to meet the unique characteristics of your restaurant and state law.

The restaurant business is hard enough. Just surviving the first few years is a tremendous challenge. Protect your business and hard work with a well-crafted prenuptial or postnuptial agreement.

Chantale Suttle is the Managing Attorney and Founder of JustPrenups.com, which is headquartered in Celebration, Florida. She has been in the exclusive practice of family law for over 20 years and has represented all types of business owners. As a child, she spent time at Sinbad’s Bar and Grill, her father’s restaurant near Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Whose Divorce Is It Anyway? When Your Business Partner’s Divorce Seems Like Your Own

Tue, 13 Sep 2022 06:30:00 GMT

You may think your marriage will last forever. But do you have the same faith in your business partner’s marriage? If your partner’s divorce gets ugly, it can cost your business money and cause the disclosure of confidential business information. At a minimum, if your partner owns thirty percent or more of the company, he or she will be required to provide the court with a financial affidavit and general statement of the company’s market value. Your company will be forced to turn over its tax returns and bank statements for the last three years as evidence of your partner’s income—but a court can require so much more.

INTRUSION INTO YOUR BUSINESS TO DETERMINE INCOME AND SET SUPPORT

Florida courts worry that shareholder-spouses will stop their privately held companies from making distributions in order to reduce their income, and as a result, reduce their alimony or child support obligations. Shareholder-spouses must therefore prove that their companies are retaining money only for corporate purposes, and not to shield money from non-owner spouses. Ordinarily, an accuser has the burden of proving a wrongdoing. But in a divorce case, the shareholder-spouse has the burden and expense of proving that the company did nothing wrong. The Florida Supreme Court placed this unusual burden on shareholder-spouses in the Zold v. Zold case.

In Zold, the shareholder-spouse complied with tax laws and claimed pass-through income from his S corporation on his tax return, even though the company never actually distributed the pass-through funds. The company retained the funds in corporate accounts. The Florida Supreme Court held that such undistributed pass-through funds are income for the purpose of calculating alimony and child support, unless the shareholder-spouse can prove that the company is retaining the funds only for corporate purposes. Since the Zold case, Florida courts have applied the same approach to undistributed funds for all types of corporate entities—S Corp or not. These disputes inevitably lead to a company retaining its own attorney and accountant to defend the company against overly-aggressive attorneys who try to pressure the shareholder-spouse by digging into private company records, and making life as difficult as possible for the company and its other owners.

INTRUSION INTO YOUR BUSINESS TO VALUE AND DIVIDE IT

If a spouse claims that he or she owns part of your business, or that he or she is entitled to share in another’s ownership interest, that claim will trigger additional corporate disclosure obligations. In both ownership and retained income disputes, everything that may be relevant to valuation or true income will be fair game. Court orders keeping this information confidential or under seal are very difficult to obtain. Here are just a few examples of what your company may be required to disclose:

1. Profit and loss statements, balance sheets; and other financial statements;

2. Patents, trade secrets and other valuable intellectual property information;

3. Contracts, leads, projections, and price lists;

4. Unannounced acquisition and merger plans; and

5. Pending suits and noncompliance with regulatory agencies/laws.

THE RISKS

In a best case scenario, your company will be forced to give the non-owner spouse’s attorney stacks of confidential financial and business information, at the company’s cost. In a worse-case scenario, a vindictive spouse will demand the depositions of the other shareholders and will issue subpoenas to your company’s major vendors and customers. But a vindictive spouse is not the only thing to fear.

A competitor can take advantage of the transparent and public nature of the divorce process, obtain the confidential information, and use it to sabotage your company in the marketplace. In addition, valued customers or vendors may learn information about your business that makes them feel insecure or threatened. The damage may linger for years. For example, statements made in a divorce regarding the company’s value (using legitimate methods to establish a lower value) may be inconsistent with later valuations for corporate purposes such as obtaining a loan (using legitimate methods to establish a higher value), rendering any reported valuation unreliable in a third-party’s eyes.

THE SOLUTION

A well drafted prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can render much of the most intrusive and damaging financial and corporate disclosures unnecessary in the event of an ugly divorce. They can also reallocate some of the financial burden. Your company bylaws should require that all shareholders get a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement that limits the business valuation process and addresses confidentiality issues. These agreements can insulate and protect the business by mandating that the shareholder-spouse, or the nonowner- spouse, are responsible for the company’s divorce-related attorneys and accounting fees. They can also give shareholders the right to buyout a divorcing shareholder’s interests, if the divorce proceedings present a threat to corporate control.

These are just a few examples of suggested prenuptial and postnuptial agreement terms that companies should require of their shareholders who marry or are married. A divorce attorney with experience representing small businesses can customize further protections to meet the unique needs of your company.

Ten Things About Your Company That Can Be Disclosed As Part of An Ugly Divorce

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 05:57:00 GMT

What do your divorce and your business have in common?

Plenty. Specifically, plenty that you do not want them to have in common.

Just ask Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt about their winery and their divorce . If you thought stomping grapes was messy...

A divorce can wreak havoc on your privately held business. Corporate control issues, valuation, and individual income issues can force you to expend precious time and money protecting your company’s confidential information and other interests. Even after a short marriage, divorce can cause your company to disclose almost everything. Think you’ll be married forever? Great. But how much faith do you have in your fellow shareholders’ marriages? Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements can protect you and your company.

"Why Must My Privately Held Company Disclose Anything when a Shareholder Divorces? Can't MY Business Information Remain Confidential in THEIR Divorce?"

Before we get into what confidential company information can be disclosed in an ugly divorce, let’s first discuss why courts force companies to disclose that information. In a Florida divorce, if you own thirty percent or more of a company, you must provide a financial affidavit and a general statement of the company’s market value. At a minimum, the business will be forced to turn over tax returns and bank statements for the last three years as evidence of the owner’s income—but a court can require so much more. This is true even if you started the business, or acquired shares of the business, before you got married.

Florida courts worry that shareholder-spouses will stop their privately held companies from making distributions to reduce their income, and as a result, reduce their alimony or child support obligations. So you—or the company as a third party—must prove that the company is retaining money only for corporate purposes. You must prove that you are not shielding money from your spouse by keeping it in the company. In other types of cases, if someone accuses you of wrongdoing, the accuser has the burden of proving that you committed the wrongdoing. But in a divorce case, you have the burden (and expense!) of proving that you and the company did nothing wrong. The Florida Supreme Court placed this unusual burden on shareholder-spouses in the Zold v. Zold case 911 So. 2d 1222 (2005).

In that case, the Court analyzed whether pass-through income from a subchapter S corporation, which was claimed for tax purposes, but never distributed to the shareholder, should be considered income for alimony and child support purposes. Fortunately, the Court recognized that income reported on the individual tax return for a shareholder-spouse of an S-corporation is not necessarily the same as the income the shareholder-spouse has available for support purposes. This is because a company may retain funds—rather than distributing the funds—to uphold the company’s obligations to creditors, employees, and all shareholders. Companies may also retain funds in excess of current liabilities for a variety of other legitimate corporate purposes, such as expanding the business, purchasing new equipment, or reserving funds in the event of a natural disaster. But if you or the company cannot prove that the undistributed funds are being withheld for corporate purposes—and not to shield them from your spouse—then a Florida court will considered the undistributed funds your income for support purposes.

"What Can My Company Be Forced to Disclose?"

Florida courts now apply this Zold approach to undistributed company funds regardless of whether the company is an S-corporation, limited liability company, or partnership. To determine whether you have met your burden of showing that undistributed funds were retained for a corporate purpose, a court will consider:

the extent to which you have access to or control over the company’s undistributed funds;
whether distributing the funds will cause the company to become insolvent and unable to satisfy its obligations to its debtors and shareholders; and
the purpose for which the company is retaining the income.

When weighing these three factors, however, a court will give more weight to purpose for which the company is retaining the income.

"What If My Spouse Comes for My Business in the Divorce?"

If a spouse claims that he or she owns part of the business, or that he or she is entitled to share in the other’s ownership interest, that claim will also trigger additional corporate disclosure obligations. In both ownership and retained income disputes, everything that may be relevant to valuation or true income will be fair game, and court orders keeping this information confidential or under seal are very difficult to obtain. Here are just ten few examples of what the company may be required to disclose:

Profit and loss statements, balance sheets; and other financial statements;
Contracts and customer lists;
Patents, trade secrets and other highly valuable intellectual property information-- including works in progress-- that may evidence the present and future value of the company’s assets;
Sales leads, projections, and price lists;
Employee compensation including bonus and commission structure;
Unannounced acquisition and merger plans in infancy;
Tax liens or other tax trouble;
Pending suits and disputes;
Noncompliance with regulatory agencies/laws; and
Company crises and public relations problems that had been kept under wraps.

In a best case scenario, the company provides this information- at the company’s cost—by providing the non-shareholder-spouse with voluminous documentation that is turned-over to a court-appointed accountant or receiver. In a worse, but legally permitted case, a vindictive spouse demands that it receive information by deposing other shareholders and by issuing subpoenas to your company’s major vendors and customers. It most instances, the company will need its own lawyer to deal with the barrage of demands for private company information. But a vindictive spouse armed with a good attorney is not the only thing to fear.

How Can I Limit the Damage to My Company from a Shareholder Divorce?

It is unlikely that a privately held company can avoid any harm when one of its shareholders experiences a difficult divorce. However, a well drafted prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can render the most intrusive and damaging disclosures unnecessary, and can limit or attribute the related costs away from the company. In some situations, these agreements can save the business itself.

A recent case involved three partners who built a profitable service business together. Two of the partners were married to each other, and they eventually separated. The fight over the control and value of the company was so acrimonious that a court appointed receiver took over the business. The receiver discovered and reported regulatory record-keeping violations to the government that eventually caused the business to be shut down permanently. If there had been a prenup or postnup in place, perhaps a receiver would not have been necessary, and the parties could have resolved the regulatory issues confidentially without closing the business.

"How Can I Protect My Business’ Privacy?"

Require that all owners of your business get a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement that addresses business valuation and confidentiality issues.
Require that the agreement insulates and protects the business by mandating that the company’s attorneys’ and accounting fees’, related to a shareholder’s divorce, shall be paid for by the shareholder-spouse or the spouse demanding the disclosures—not the company.
Build in buyout clauses so that threats to corporate control can be met with a mandatory buyout of the divorcing shareholder’s interests by the other shareholders.

These are just a few examples of suggested prenup and postnup language that companies should require of their shareholders who marry or are married. More protections may be available in your state. You should consult a divorce attorney licensed in your state who has experience representing businesses. That attorney can customize a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement to meet the unique characteristics of the company and state law.

Chantale Suttle is the founder of JustPrenup.com. She has been in the exclusive practice of family law for over 27 years and has served countless small business owners in divorce court. Drafting prenuptial and postnuptial agreements for small business owners, using the experience she gained in litigation is her favorite work.

The post Ten Things About Your Company That Can Be Disclosed As Part of An Ugly Divorce appeared first on Justprenups .

Why Your Prenuptial Agreement Is Probably Irrelevant

Fri, 12 Aug 2022 06:24:00 GMT

Florida law dictates how property is divided in a divorce...unless you have a prenuptial ("prenup") or postnuptial ("postnup") agreement in place. However, a prenup or postnup is not ironclad - not unless you strictly follow the legal rules that determine whether a prenup or postnup will be effective when you need it.

The words on the paper are usually fair to the couple involved, and the words are usually fair under basic contract principles.

Overall, most prenups are upheld when challenged. There is a well-established precedent of "buyer beware" in American law, and courts want to uphold contracts between parties. Don't think so? Consider the last time you wound up with an unpleasant gym contract or phone contract. Judges are inclined to uphold the contracts, and that applies to prenups.

Why are most prenups upheld?

Most lawyers use - and should use - "boilerplate" language, which refers to terminology and phrasing that most lawyers, judges and consumers have seen many times before. Such language has withstood the test of time under scrutiny. That's why the majority of prenups use mostly all the same terms, and the rest of the language is variable, depending on how an attorney tailored the contract to the circumstances.
Twenty-six U.S. states have adopted the Uniform Premarital and Marital Agreements Act (UPAA). Florida adopted it in 2007; see Section 61.079 of the Florida Statutes. The UPAA gives guidance to judges for interpreting prenups and for whether they should be enforced. With so many states using this framework, you can rely on the safeguards in the statute.
Even if you bought a DIY packaged prenup, it was likely written by a good attorney, who was using the conventions mentioned above.

Why would your prenup be irrelevant?

A prenup is rarely irrelevant because of the specific words on the page. It's irrelevant almost always because of the process involved in creating the prenup, which may involve one of the situations below:

Duress.

Duress is the pressure to sign because the person believes that there is no other option but to marry and thus to sign an unwanted contract. Consider these examples of duress:

Someone urgently immigrating (and without a visa) might not have another solution for an immigration predicament, so the person will feel forced to sign a prenup in order to proceed with the wedding and to secure their status in the country.
Imagine the wedding is scheduled in six weeks, and relatives who are traveling long distances have already invested money in plane tickets. The fiancé might not like the terms of the prenup, but the idea of delaying or calling off the wedding is unthinkable and humiliating.
There might be a pregnancy that needs to be legitimized. A person might not want to agree to the prenup's terms, but the person may still want to marry to ensure closeness with the child.

2. Incomplete or nonexistent disclosure.

A prenup may be irrelevant when one or both partners have provided incomplete or nonexistent disclosure of financials, assets, liabilities, etc. Failure to disclose might include an intentional omission, but an omission also might be inadvertent, especially if the partners are rushed or dealing with other circumstances while preparing for the prenup and the wedding.

On this issue, you may need a lawyer to figure out appropriate disclosure for your unique circumstances.

3. A language barrier. Disclosure cannot happen properly if one party cannot adequately comprehend the language used to identify assets, income, liabilities, etc. A language barrier may prevent a fiancé from fully understanding the terms of the contract. Additionally, translations might not accurately capture disclosure, depending on the translator's understanding of the contract. Ultimately, if the person cannot read the contract, then there is no proper consent to, or agreement with, the terms of the prenup.

4. Too little time to consider the contract before the wedding. This situation provokes the same concerns as duress, even if neither partner is feeling forced or feeling as if there is no other option. Prenups may be irrelevant when there is simply too little time between the presentation of the prenup and the wedding ceremony to consider the potential consequences of the prenup adequately.

5. Fraud. This situation involves lying or deception of some kind. It may involve falsification of documents or lying about assets, all of which are a failure to disclose. But the fraud may involve the prenup document itself, such as presenting a copy with different terms for signature to an unsuspecting fiancé. Such tactics may be used to induce a partner's signature on the prenup by making the partner believe that the prenup does or does not include certain provisions. The latter situation is especially possible when one partner is not as legally savvy or does not have comparable language or reading comprehension.

6. Need for public assistance . If your prenup waived spousal support, but divorce has caused the ex-spouse to need public assistance, the court may require the other ex-spouse to provide financial support. The wording of Section 61.079(7)(b) provides the following guidance: "If a provision of a premarital agreement modifies or eliminates spousal support and that modification or elimination causes one party to the agreement to be eligible for support under a program of public assistance at the time of separation or marital dissolution, a court, notwithstanding the terms of the agreement [emphasis supplied], may require the other party to provide support to the extent necessary to avoid that eligibility."

How do I avoid these pitfalls?

You can approach a prenup through hiring a lawyer as your own advocate and not as your partner's advocate. This approach is somewhat adversarial, though it may be the best approach for your needs.

A better, and likely less expensive, option is to pursue a mediated prenup, in which one of our attorneys can function as a mediator who is not hired to represent only one person's interest. Please see our post, " What is a Mediated Prenup? "

If you are married and have a prenup in place, consider a review to make sure that you have protected yourself against the pitfalls that may render your prenup irrelevant. If there is in fact a problem, the remedy is easy: you can simply amend your prenup, which might be a good move regardless, as you may have acquired assets, businesses, and income that you did not possess at the time of the prenup's drafting. In fact, the UPAA provides for the amending of your prenup in Section 61.079 (6):

After marriage, a premarital agreement may be amended, revoked, or abandoned only by a written agreement signed by the parties. The amended agreement, revocation, or abandonment is enforceable without consideration.

If you have questions or concerns related to creating, reviewing, or amending a Florida prenup, the dedicated prenuptial attorneys at Just Prenups can help.

Warning: All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com .

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Research Shows Reunited Former Sweethearts Stay Together for Good

Wed, 03 Aug 2022 20:03:00 GMT

In "food for thought" news, a study based at Cal State University shows that single people who reunite later in life with their first loves have a 70% likelihood of staying together for good.

Rutgers anthropologist Helen Fisher commented on the study that if you reconnect with a lost love after years, "you can trigger that brain circuitry for romantic love almost instantly and be back in love again." Moreover, that first love can have the same effect as imprinting "your type," says Fisher.

The phenomenon of reuniting with first (and lost) loves isn't as rare as you might think. Such scenarios are not the stuff of fairy tales, especially in the age of the Internet when your first date in junior high school may be one Facebook click away. This phenomenon has been documented by Nancy Kalish, Ph.D., emeritus professor of psychology at Cal State Sacramento, who launched her Lost Love Project in 1993. She analyzed the love lives of people aged 18 to 89 across 50 U.S. states and 28 countries. Dr. Kalish's international results pointed to the enduring nature of the commitments made by reunited former sweethearts:

"No matter how old they were when they reunited and no matter how many romances they had had during their lives, 62% of the participants reported that they chose to reunite with their first loves. The older they were when they reunited, and the longer they had been separated, the better the odds that the reunion would endure. In fact, an astonishing 72% reported that they were 'still together' at the time they filled out the surveys (and in one case, the participants had reunited 50 years prior to participating in the study)....First loves defied the divorce rate, too: 78% ...reunited happily and remained in love over many years of marriage, with divorce a minimal 1.5%."

Of note, by the time these individuals have a second go at their love, they often have completed degrees, accrued assets, started businesses, had children and need to consider retirement and the legacy that they will pass onto their children and grandchildren. Moreover, if they left a marriage, they may have debt, child support and possibly alimony in their financial picture.

These concerns don't have to cloud the second-chance relationship, especially given the strong odds of success. A prenuptial agreement (or a "prenup") can clarify expectations and provide a map for the future to ease anxieties.

At Just Prenups , our intake process helps you to define your intentions and issues. Our attorneys can help you to draft an agreement that is tailored to your unique situation. Our experience can help you to control the impact of liabilities and to protect assets that are often overlooked in creating the prenuptial agreement.

Warning : All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com .

Vicious Social Media: Protecting the Future of Your Small Business

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 18:01:00 GMT

A prenuptial agreement (or postnuptial agreement, otherwise known as a “prenup” or a “postnup”) can help you to mitigate the financial strain of an expensive divorce on your personal and business assets.

In this regard, a prenup or postnup is an essential part of your bas ic business planning as much as planning for retirement or potential disability.

What’s more, the prenup/postnup allows you to protect yourself against hits from trickier sources – namely, reputational damage that harms your income. Your reputation is your business , and you shouldn't lose it to your ex's revenge tactics, such as revealing trade secrets or doxxing you in certain online communities.

For example, perhaps you’re a plumber, a lawyer, a landscaper or a doctor operating your own business. Imagine the consequences to your business of a marriage gone sour when your ex-spouse posts unflattering comments that air ugly perceptions of your dirty laundry. No one wants to imagine the dissolution of his marriage, but it’s best to plan for the worst scenario.

You may lose existing clients and have potential clients scared off by the drama alone, even if they don’t believe what is posted.

Our experienced family law attorneys can draft a “goodwill clause” or a “social media clause,” which can protect your reputation against a disenchanted spouse out for social warfare. These clauses can prevent your ex-spouse from speaking poorly of you and posting pictures that are unflattering, or that otherwise reflect negatively on you. It can set the rules and expectations for good behavior as well as provide an incentive for good behavior through establishing sanctions.

If you already have a pre-/postnuptial agreement in place, when is the last time you reviewed it? Does it need to be updated for social media concerns, and does it take into consideration the needs of your aging parents and your older children’s changing needs?

If you believe that you would benefit from a free consultation with JustPrenups, please schedule your free consultation with us.

Warning: All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. The information is not legal advice, and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.com.

20 Assets You Might Forget When Drafting Your Prenup

Wed, 06 Jul 2022 05:36:00 GMT

If you are using a postnuptial or prenuptial agreement as part of your estate planning, be sure to audit every component of your assets before your marriage or remarriage . Failure to identify certain assets can cause financial frictions in your family later.

While your primary assets are easily identified and addressed in your estate planning, there may be other items to include in your postnuptial agreement or prenuptial agreement:

Art collections or valuable works of art;
Any collections of value, such as stamps, coins, watches, designer clothing, and more;
Jewelry, especially the engagement ring, and jewelry that is passed from generation to generation;
Home gyms and sports equipment;
Home entertainment centers;
Sophisticated security systems;
Valuation of your business now with allowances for its value as it fluctuates over time in the future;
Genetic material, harvested in the past or to be collected in the future in the event of illness;
Rights to businesses that you have not yet founded, but may, in the future;
The value of time spent by your spouse in helping your business;
Pets, their custody and care during vacations and end of life, and property related to the care and housing of pets;
Vehicles, including those not being actively used or stored elsewhere;
Original copies of significant pictures and documents;
Low financial worth but highly sentimental items of value to you and your family;
Division of labor in the household, including before and after the birth of children and during pregnancy;
Patents and anything else to which you own the intellectual property rights, both now and into the future;
Recreational vehicles, such as boats, RVs, and 4-wheelers;
Classic cars, collector motorcycles, super cars, and most importantly, their often-forgotten parts.
Signed baseball cards, signed jerseys, and other autographed merch; and
Scrapbooks, yearbooks, photo albums, diplomas, trophies, awards, and other personal memorabilia.

Such items should be labeled directly in your prenuptial agreement (or postnup) to ensure that they are transferred (and insured) as you intended.

Do you know what can and cannot be included in your prenuptial agreement by law? Do you know what you personally want to address with a prenup attorney or mediator? At Just Prenups , our intake and review process helps you to think carefully through your property, intentions, and issues, especially for those who are remarrying.

When prenuptial (and postnuptial) agreements are written carefully – with the professional legal counsel of an experienced Florida prenup and family law attorney – they are extremely difficult to contest successfully.

Everything to Know About Signing a Prenup in Florida

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 12:25:00 GMT

If you’re considering getting married in Florida, learning about prenuptial agreements can help you prepare properly. A prenup can help protect your assets in the event of a divorce, and it’s important to have one that’s valid and enforceable under Florida law. In this article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about signing a prenup in Florida.

We’ll cover the basics, such as what a prenup is and why you might want one, as well as more specific topics like how they work and when they become effective.

What is a Prenuptial Agreement?

A prenuptial agreement, also known as a “prenup or premarital agreement,” is a legally binding contract that’s signed by two people before they get married. The contract outlines each person’s rights and obligations in the event of a divorce or death.

Prenups can especially help those who own a business that they would like to keep separate or who want to ensure a future inheritance for their children from a previous marriage.

What are the Requirements for a Prenup in Florida?

In order for a prenup to be valid in Florida, it must meet certain legal requirements. First, full and frank financial disclosure is required to enter into a valid prenup. It must be in writing and signed by both parties in the presence of a notary. The agreement must also be witnessed by two adults who are not related to either party.

The prenuptial agreement must be fair and reasonable, and each party must have the opportunity to seek independent legal counsel before signing. Finally, the agreement cannot conflict with public policy or law.

What is Excluded in a Florida Prenup Agreement?

Prenuptial agreements written in Florida must not include anything that violates public policy or law. Two things that should not be included in a prenup agreement are conditions set for child custody or child support. In the event of a divorce, the courts in Florida will determine these based on what would be in the best interest for the child or children.

When Does a Prenup Become Effective?

A prenup typically becomes effective on the date of the marriage. However, there are some circumstances where it can become effective earlier or later. For example, if one spouse inherits property after the prenup is signed but before the marriage, that property may be exempt from the agreement.

What are the Benefits of a Prenup?

There are several benefits of signing a prenuptial agreement. First, it can provide financial security in the event of a divorce. If you have significant assets or property, a prenup can protect them from being divided in a divorce settlement.

Second, a prenup can help avoid conflict if you do get divorced. The terms of the agreement will be laid out ahead of time, so there won’t be any disagreement about who gets what in the event of a divorce.

Third, a prenup can save you time and money if you do get divorced. If the terms of your agreement are clear, it will be much easier and cheaper to resolve any disputes that arise.

What Are the Disadvantages of a Prenup?

There are some potential disadvantages of signing a prenuptial agreement. First, it can be hard to negotiate a fair and reasonable agreement if you’re not on good terms with your future spouse. Second, a prenup can put stress on your relationship before you even get married if both parties are not aligned with the idea of a Prenup.

Need to Discuss Your Options?

If you’re considering signing a prenuptial agreement, it’s important to discuss your options with an experienced Florida prenup attorney at Just Prenups Law Firm.

Click the Request Consultation button to schedule a free consultation.

Staying in a Marriage of Convenience using a Postnup

Wed, 18 May 2022 07:39:00 GMT

Under Florida law, there is no such thing as a legal separation, in which couples choose to live apart from each other to see where they truly stand in regard to remaining married. Florida is an outlier compared to most other U.S. states that recognize legal separation. Only five other states do not recognize legal separation: Delaware, Georgia, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Florida‘s social policy on legal separation is designed to curb the appeal of “green card marriages” for immigration purposes.

Under Florida’s law, you are either married, or you have filed on a particular date for divorce. On this date of filing for divorce, your debts and assets are calculated, regardless of whether you moved out or when you moved out. For example, if one spouse moves from the marital home to a different location, the couple are not legally separated, and in the eyes of the law, they are considered married. Even if a decade went by with both of them living separately, they would still be responsible for the divide of debts and assets as they exist on the date of filing for divorce.

Since legal separation is not an option, couples may be forced to divorce in order to deal with the risks of living apart while being considered married under the law. Yet plenty of couples will choose to remain married for reasons other than the health of their marital relationship. They may choose to stay together…

For the sake of their young children who benefit from the continued stability of two parents living together.
For the sake of older children. Surprisingly, some couples want to remain married because they are concerned about the reactions of their adult children.
Because they believe it’s the best way to handle their level and/or distribution of debt. For example, two incomes may be needed for a mortgage and/or car payments.
Because one chronically ill spouse is dependent on the health insurance benefits associated with the other spouse’s job.
Because they are both religious, and their religion forbids divorce. The devout are left with few options when they find themselves in marriages that are no longer viable.
Because one or both spouses don’t want to give up any corporate control where a business is involved.

When a couple knows that – whatever their reasons – marriage is the best strategy for them, they can use a postnuptial agreement to create a filing date on which their debts and assets will be sorted. The postnuptial agreement saves a couple from divorce when the divorce is not the optimal outcome for their lives and children. A postnup acts as a substitute for a legal separation and allows you to move forward with a life outside of your marriage without the need for a divorce. Through the postnuptial agreement, this filing date is created, and if the couple chooses divorce, then the divorce ratifies the postnuptial agreement’s filing date.

Postnuptial agreements are legal contracts that are created during the marriage (i.e., after the wedding vows) and that are executed upon signing. You may be more familiar with prenuptial (“prenup”) agreements that are executed before the marriage. The difference is in the timing of when the contract is executed, but the function of the contract is the same for both prenups and postnups.

Divorce can occur at a more logistically appropriate time when the couple can say that their marriage is “irretrievably broken,” which is the standard for divorce under Florida law. It manages risk for each spouse and for any third parties whom they may have designated to inherit from them.

If you are interested in learning more, consult with an experienced postnuptial attorney at JustPrenups in Florida today.

The post Staying in a Marriage of Convenience using a Postnup appeared first on Justprenups .

3 Frequently Asked Questions About Prenups

Tue, 22 Mar 2022 16:32:00 GMT

Nobody enters into a prenuptial agreement thinking that they will one day need to use it, but the reality is that almost half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce.

If you are considering getting married, it is important to ask yourself some tough questions before signing any documents. In this article, we will discuss four of the most frequently asked questions about prenups.

1. What is the Purpose of a Prenup?

The first question you should ask yourself is what the purpose of a prenuptial agreement is. A prenup is a legal contract that outlines how assets will be divided in the event of a divorce.

For example, if you own a house before getting married, you may want to put it in your name only so that it is not considered marital property and would not be subject to division in the event of a divorce.

Some people believe that prenuptial agreements are only for wealthy individuals or celebrities, but this is not true. Anyone can benefit from having a prenup, regardless of their financial situation.

2. Is There Any Bias in the Prenup Agreement?

The second question to ask is whether or not there is any bias in the agreement. This can be a difficult question to answer, but it is important to make sure that both parties are treated fairly in the event of a divorce.

For example, if one spouse has significantly more assets than the other, they may want to consider creating a prenup that protects their interests in case of a divorce.

It is also important to make sure that any children from previous relationships are protected in the event of a divorce. If you have children from a previous relationship, you will want to make sure that they are provided for financially in the event of your death or divorce.

3. What are the Risks if I Don’t Sign It?

The third question to ask is what the risks are if you don’t sign a prenuptial agreement. One of the biggest risks is that your assets may not be protected in the event of a divorce.

Without a prenup, you could risk your stocks, royalties, and other assets from being equally distributed according to the laws of your state. Another risk is that your alimony could be higher if you’re wealthy and don’t sign a prenup, leaving payments at the hands of a judge if your divorce does not end amicably.

Alimony is financial support that one spouse pays to another after a divorce. Signing a prenup can stipulate certain conditions that can make your alimony payments lower in case of divorce.

Are You Contemplating a Prenup?

If you have any more questions about signing a prenup, we recommend talking to an attorney. At Just Prenups Law Firm, we can review your specific circumstances and give you tailored legal advice.

Keep in mind that every situation is different, so please schedule a consultation with us if you have specific questions about your own case.

How To Invalidate a Prenup

Mon, 02 Nov 2020 18:02:00 GMT

As previously discussed in our blogs over the years, no one gets married anticipating to get divorced. Unfortunately, the statistics in this regard do not lie and about half of those who tie the knot end up in divorce court. For those couples, is a prenuptial agreement necessary? At the very least, it becomes very useful for the couple whose diamonds don’t last forever. Discussing the topic of getting a prenuptial agreement may seem awkward, if not outright difficult. It won’t be the first nor the last difficult discussion for any married couple. Because it is not an easy conversation, many may choose to procrastinate bringing up the subject. This may prove to be a big mistake.

While prenuptial agreements are generally quite useful to any divorcing couple, if certain requirements are not met, they may become not only less useful, but a source of litigation. That is why it is important to speak to an attorney about the pitfalls to avoid, such as:

Timing : a spouse could challenge a prenuptial agreement alleging that he/she signed it under duress. Imagine being presented with a prenuptial agreement a week before the wedding and being told that if it isn’t signed, there will be no wedding? The prenuptial agreement should be introduced in enough time before the wedding to give the other spouse enough time to:

find an attorney
consult with the attorney
potentially negotiate the terms of the agreement
make all modifications as needed (some attorneys are pretty busy!)
arrange to sign the agreement in front of witnesses and a notary
get back to the business of getting married!

While there is no bright line as to how much time is enough time within which to sign a prenuptial agreement before a wedding, the 11th hour prenuptial agreement is likely to be invalidated, if challenged.

Full Financial Disclosure : the prospective spouses need to provide each other the necessary documents that accurately reflect their respective financial situations. A person cannot be expected to make a decision that may impact their life without complete information. Since the valuation of certain assets can be tricky, if not downright difficult, an attorney can help.

Fairness: the more the prenuptial agreement can be said to be fair and reasonable, the less likely it is to be challenged. In addition, provided that the prenuptial agreement was negotiated and signed in a timely fashion, that there was full and frank financial disclosure and that its terms and provisions are fair and reasonable, the better the chances that a court would validate the agreement should it be challenged in the first place.

Not necessary, but a good idea if the finances allow:

Video recording of the signatures: since one of the reasons a spouse could choose to challenge a prenuptial agreement is “duress or coercion”, a good idea is to have the notary or witnesses video record when the prospective spouses sign the agreement. Before the actual signing of the prenuptial agreement, it is further a good idea to go over the terms and the provisions contained in it, making sure that both prospective spouses understand what they are signing, that they ask questions, if any, before signing it and that they say that they not only understand but that they believe the agreement to be fair and that they are signing it freely and voluntarily, without pressure, duress or coercion.

While there is no way to make any prenuptial agreement 100% guaranteed, safe or infallible, avoiding those most common pitfalls is a step in the right direction, making the somewhat uncomfortable exercise well worth it for both spouses.

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All I Have Is A House From Prior Marriage — Why Do I Need A Prenup?

Sun, 01 Nov 2020 18:04:00 GMT

Prior to July 1, 2018, if a spouse came into a new marriage with a house from a prior marriage, barring some circumstances such as transferring the property into both new spouses’ names, the property was likely safe from equitable distribution if the new marriage ended up in divorce. A central question raised in the situation was what the courts refer to as “passive” versus “active” appreciation.

Passive Appreciation: the value of the assets such as real property, stocks, art, etc. increased by no effort of the spouses, but rather because the upward fluctuation of the market on its own. Think about the stock market that goes up or down without any of us having any say.

Active Appreciation: basically, this means that the value of the asset increased due to the efforts of the spouses, rather than because the market fluctuated upward on its own.

Here is a (close to) true story to illustrate: In 1980, a couple married. About 6 months prior to the wedding, the husband purchased a house for $35,000 for which he put $5,000 down at closing and mortgaged the rest ($30,000). The mortgage was in his name only, as was the house itself. That house became their marital home in which they lived for 27 years. Although they refinanced that property several times, both the title of the house as well as the mortgages remained in the husband’s name only, even though they used both of their incomes to pay the mortgage payments, insurances, taxes, general maintenance, and improvements, such as a carport that they built themselves. They were married 28 years before filing for divorce at which time the house was worth $235,000 (an increase in value of $200,000) with no mortgage left to pay.

Until July 1, 2018, other than the carport ($15,000 active appreciation) the law recognized the remaining increase in value as all passive, which meant that the wife was not entitled to her share of it even though she had paid the mortgage payments and all expenses out of her paychecks to the same extent the husband had.

The law now recognizes that the wife, under those circumstances, is entitled to her share of the increased value of that home.

The difference for the wife in this case:

Before July 1, 2018 she got $7,500.

Since July 1, 2018 she gets $100,000.

There is no telling whether the husband’s actions in not putting the house in both names was intended to cut the wife’s share in case of divorce. What is certain is that it didn’t seem fair for the court to not recognize the wife’s contribution during those 28 years and not award her half of the equity in their marital home.

The results in a court of law are not always what we might expect. Because the law states something on the day of your wedding doesn’t mean it will have remained the same on the day of your divorce.

So, whether all you own is a house from a prior marriage or whether you own much more, a prenuptial agreement may very well be the surest way to provide you and your spouse peace of mind with respect to how what you own as well as what you owe will be divided in the event of a divorce.

For a more detailed, step-by-step explanation, click here . To determine the worth of your premarital house before you take the plunge and get married, you may want to talk with a realtor .

Do you have concerns about moving on from your first marriage and into your next relationship? Read our guidance here .

Ready to talk about taking control of your relationship and your financial future? A free consultation is waiting for you.

An Attorney Explains the Impact of Divorce on Business Assets

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 18:11:00 GMT

Attorney Suttle Shares Prenup Knowledge in the October 2018 Issue of American Drycleaner

Owning a small business, like a dry cleaners for example, can bring plenty of stress each day, from attracting new clients to crunching the numbers. Going through a divorce as a small business owner will only add to the complications and worries. That is, unless you use a prenuptial agreement that properly protects your business from the unfair advances of your soon-to-be ex-spouse.

Attorney Chantale Suttle of JustPrenups.com in Florida recently shared her insight and knowledge about prenuptial agreements and small business owner applications in American Drycleaner , the top publication for dry cleaners across the country. In her article, she discusses the fictional stories of two drycleaners, who each got divorced. The difference is one walked away with almost nothing, and the other continued to run and grow his business.

What was the dividing factor between one person’s success and the other’s failure? Planning ahead with a prenuptial agreement to keep the business that was owned by one spouse separate in case of divorce. In the story, the character used a postnuptial instead of a prenuptial, which is effectively the same exact thing, only signed after marriage instead of before.

With a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, you and your spouse can decide on some of the most important factors of divorce, just in case it ever happens, from spousal support to marital property division. You and your spouse can pave a less contentious path to a life after divorce by creating a prenuptial or postnuptial with a trusted attorney. Any small business owner really cannot sit comfortably without a prenuptial filed away somewhere, or else risk his business to unfair division.

Would you like to read the full article written by Attorney Suttle? You can access the digital edition of American Drycleaner October 2018. Scroll to page 28 to visit the article.

Time to Update Your Prenuptial Agreement

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 18:13:00 GMT

Prenuptial agreements are supposed to lay out each spouse’s financial expectations before they enter into their marriage. Many couples decide to waive their option to alimony because both people have established careers and sufficient financial resources. Also, most couples simply do not anticipate or want to believe that there might be the need for alimony in the event of a divorce.

However, when the financial balance in the marriage suddenly shifts, it is crucial for spouses to review and make any necessary revisions to their prenuptial agreement. For example, if one spouse takes leave from their job to take care of the children at home for an extended period of time, the stability of their career might be affected and alimony might be needed in the event of divorce. Another example when a couple should update their prenup is when a spouse has to leave the workforce to care for elder parents. Spouses sometimes might reach an agreement where one or more of their parents requires a full-time caregiver.

Accounting for Children & Elder Parents in Your Prenup

The difference between deciding how to account for children and aging parents is that with children, you have a general understanding of the timeline you need to consider and plan for. Children will eventually have to start going to school and an elder parent’s time might be freed up enough for them to return to the workforce. Childcare options are also widely available and relatively affordable for a household with two incomes.

On the other hand, caregiver options for the elderly, outside of Medicaid that is, are difficult to find and sometimes near impossible to afford. Furthermore, these caregiver options don’t always fit the needs of a family. The length of time that a spouse will have to be committed to the caregiver role is also difficult to determine. Being a caregiver for an aging parent can last for a few months, or it might last for decades or longer. Because the amount of time a person will spend as a caregiver is unpredictable, it is prudent for spouses to remove the alimony waiver from their prenuptial agreement and decide upon a fair amount of compensation if they ever decide to get divorced.

Leaving the workforce to care for aging parents doesn’t just mean a spouse loses a paycheck, it also means they can’t contribute to their social security benefits. A spouse caring for an aging parent also misses out on employer contributions to their retirement plans. Their job skills might end up being out-of-date when they are finally ready to return to the workforce, which will make it difficult for them to find employment that suits their skill set. Because so many significant financial factors need to be considered when caring for an elder parent, and because of the stress that caregiving brings into a marriage, addressing the issue of alimony before taking on the role of caregiver is a wise choice.

Caregiving for aging parents takes a toll on every aspect of a person’s life, including their physical and mental health, their personal relationships, career prospects, and finances. Before deciding to become a caregiver, you should think very carefully about the impact caregiving will have on your life, including your ability to re-enter the workforce or maintain your financial stability.

There are many resources available online, such as https://www.caregiver.org/, the AARP, and the Alzheimer’s Reading Room that you can read to help you determine if you are in a position to assume the role of caregiver.

The Necessity of Prenuptial Agreements

Wed, 02 Sep 2020 18:14:00 GMT

No one gets married, anticipating they will eventually get divorced. However, studies show at least half of all marriages end in divorce. Consequently, before you get married, it’s a good idea to speak with an attorney about drafting a prenuptial agreement to protect assets, define expectations, and offer peace of mind.

Protect your Assets

A prenuptial agreement is a contract signed by both parties in anticipation of marriage. Within the contract, the parties can identify all property, assets, and debts they have as they come into the marriage. Within the prenuptial agreement, the parties can indicate whether or not one party will pay or receive alimony, or whether no alimony will be paid should the parties divorce. Similarly, allocation of debts and assets can be addressed in a prenuptial agreement.

Protecting your Business

When one party comes into the marriage already owning a business, a prenuptial agreement will clearly define what will happen to the business if the parties divorce. Depending on how the business is handled during the course of the marriage, the business may otherwise be considered property subject to the terms and conditions of the divorce decree. A properly written and executed prenuptial agreement can safely protect the business.

Defining Expectations

One of the leading causes of dissent in a marriage is arguments over money. Starting a marriage after discussing assets and debts, couples may find themselves better situated to handle married life. Additionally, at the beginning of the marriage, couples tend to be far more interested in an equitable division of property; this can prevent extended, costly divorce litigation later.

Peace of Mind

Prenuptial agreements offer people peace of mind. Particularly in situations where there may be a family business, co-owned by a number of different family members, a prenuptial agreement can ensure the extended family, or, depending on the circumstances, other business partners, their interest are protected. Hence, there will be no need to worry about a third-party being awarded a portion of the business, or awarded permission to run part of the business, should the parties divorce.

Furthermore, prenuptial agreements can provide security and the assurance that inheritance will stay with the party to whom the inheritance was intended.

Finally, a prenuptial agreement provides certainty no other document can provide. If there is a divorce, and the parties cannot agree on property division, a judge will make the decision for the parties. A prenuptial agreement avoids the uncertainty that comes with allowing a third party to decide who gets what assets.

If you are looking for an experienced and highly reputable prenuptial agreement attorney or mediator in Florida, please hit the Request Consultation button.