getmarried2015
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
I plan on meeting with a lawyer to review a prenuptial agreement, but I wanted to turn to this forum for advice on how best to prepare myself for the meeting and to know more about what is possible to include in prenuptial agreements besides the binge-reading I've been doing online on my own.
The situation: My guy and I will be married later this year and he has asked me to sign a prenuptial agreement to protect a trust fund and house that he owns (both through family inheritance). The agreement he has given me to start with is a standard template from our state and it would protect our previous assets (mostly his - I've got none except an IRA) and debts but otherwise conform to our state law. Our state stipulates that I would be entitled to half of any value of the house it accrues during our marriage (so if it's appraised for $500,000 around our marriage date and we sell it for $700,000 a few years later, I would be entitled to $100,000, BUT, if it were to sell for less than $300,000, I would be indebted by $100,000). The house would remain in his name.
I have no moral issues or hurt feelings over signing a prenuptial agreement and I don't want his house or trust fund in the least, but there is something about our financial situation that concerns me. I earn a lot more than he does (he earns in the low five figures and I earn a salary in the high five figures annually). When he finishes his degree he may earn more in the future, but there's no guarantee since he has picked a really unstable job career to find full time employment (he's studying to be an art teacher, I suspect in part because he has always known he can "fall back" on his trust fund). He is really interested in combining our finances after marriage because of the partnership it symbolizes, but, without sounding too much like a jerk, I think that's pretty easy to say when all your assets are protected and your partner earns almost 7x what you do. Right now it feels like the agreement is working to protect him more than it does me and I've got a lot of questions. What protections are possible and legal for me to seek in the agreement? Also, what is your advice on selecting the best lawyer to help me with this?
TL;DR: If one person owns a lot and the other person earns a lot, how do they move forward with a prenuptial agreement that values both owning and earning potential?
I plan on meeting with a lawyer to review a prenuptial agreement, but I wanted to turn to this forum for advice on how best to prepare myself for the meeting and to know more about what is possible to include in prenuptial agreements besides the binge-reading I've been doing online on my own.
The situation: My guy and I will be married later this year and he has asked me to sign a prenuptial agreement to protect a trust fund and house that he owns (both through family inheritance). The agreement he has given me to start with is a standard template from our state and it would protect our previous assets (mostly his - I've got none except an IRA) and debts but otherwise conform to our state law. Our state stipulates that I would be entitled to half of any value of the house it accrues during our marriage (so if it's appraised for $500,000 around our marriage date and we sell it for $700,000 a few years later, I would be entitled to $100,000, BUT, if it were to sell for less than $300,000, I would be indebted by $100,000). The house would remain in his name.
I have no moral issues or hurt feelings over signing a prenuptial agreement and I don't want his house or trust fund in the least, but there is something about our financial situation that concerns me. I earn a lot more than he does (he earns in the low five figures and I earn a salary in the high five figures annually). When he finishes his degree he may earn more in the future, but there's no guarantee since he has picked a really unstable job career to find full time employment (he's studying to be an art teacher, I suspect in part because he has always known he can "fall back" on his trust fund). He is really interested in combining our finances after marriage because of the partnership it symbolizes, but, without sounding too much like a jerk, I think that's pretty easy to say when all your assets are protected and your partner earns almost 7x what you do. Right now it feels like the agreement is working to protect him more than it does me and I've got a lot of questions. What protections are possible and legal for me to seek in the agreement? Also, what is your advice on selecting the best lawyer to help me with this?
TL;DR: If one person owns a lot and the other person earns a lot, how do they move forward with a prenuptial agreement that values both owning and earning potential?