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pre-nuptial agreement protection?

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T

texcess

Guest
What is the name of your state? Tx
I am suppose to get married in 3 months and have just discovered my fiancee is getting audited on an old business he used to have. They are going back 5 years and he did not file tax returns for at least 3 of those years. He paid all his contract employee's cash and did not keep any reciepts so I expect it will turn out pretty bad. He does not have any assets except a home he has mortgaged with very little equity and a work truck. I am guessing but I expect anywhere betwen 25k to 75k he may end up owing them.
The original plan was to rent my home out (I have 40k in equity) and move into his.The only other current asset I have is a small amount in a retirement fund that I planned on continuing to contribute to. Besides the obvious (keeping seperate checking accounts and seperate tax returns) I need to get info on whether a pre-nuptial may be needed to protect any assest I/we may aquire together in the future and how exactly do I keep our money completely seperate when it will most likey take both incomes to pay our monthly household expenses.
I would appreciate any help, details or suggestions on how to handle this.
 


Ladynred

Senior Member
Get in touch with a TX lawyer. A prenup may not be enough to protect you under TX community property laws.

However, any asset that was yours BEFORE you marry IS considered separate property - NOT part of the post-marital 'community'
 

JETX

Senior Member
If you were to marry into this situation, you need to realize that there is a STRONG chance that any actions you try to take would be subject to challenge.... or at least an attempt to associate your assets with his debts.

Given that, a prenup will not help you, nor be of any benefit, in this situation. What is already yours pre-marriage will inherently remain yours unless you choose to 'co-mingle' it.

You will need to make sure that YOUR assets are, and remain, completely separate from any co-mingling. That will likely mean you have to have a separate checking account for YOUR assets. This would mean you deposit YOUR funds (and only your funds) into your account, then pay any of your debts (mortgage, taxes, etc.) completely from YOUR funds. If you were to 'contribute' any of your funds to the joint account, do them by writing a check FROM your account. Don't put your funds into the joint, then write a check to YOUR account from that joint account.

This also means, don't list YOUR property as an asset on any joint credit applications.
 

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