Is a Postnuptial Agreement Your Ticket to a Painless Divorce?
Dating someone on an off again on again basis is common enough that Facebook created the “it’s complicated” relationship status option early in its history. Whether you are married is a simple yes or no question, though, at least as far as the courts are concerned. Case in point, if one spouse dies when their divorce papers are on the judge’s desk, only missing the judge’s signature to finalize the divorce, the couple is still legally married, and the probate case proceeds as if the parties had never filed for divorce. Despite this, estrangement followed by reconciliation is more common in married couples than the legal documents show. The fact that so many couples eventually reconcile after one of them moves out is reason enough to wait at least a few months after separating from your spouse before you decide to file for divorce. If you get back together, it is best to lay some ground rules, and if finances played a role in your falling out, you should sign a postnuptial agreement. If you want to draft a postnuptial agreement after reconciling with your estranged spouse, contact a Boca Raton prenuptial and postnuptial agreement lawyer.
A Postnuptial Agreement Can Remove Ambiguity, Whether You Stay Together or Get Divorced
A postnuptial agreement outlines which of the couple’s assets and debts are marital and which ones are separate, where this differs from statewide guidelines on the matter. The only difference between a prenuptial agreement and a postnuptial agreement is that you are already married when you sign the latter, but they serve similar purposes. Even if you have no intention to divorce your spouse and you have never separated, a postnuptial agreement can prevent conflict about a major financial decision, such as one spouse opening a business or taking out student loans; the postnuptial agreement can state that you are not responsible for your spouse’s debts related to this endeavor.
If you separate from your spouse and then reconcile, a postnuptial agreement can serve as a peace treaty, but it can also be an acknowledgment that divorce is a possibility. You might get back together with your spouse on the condition that, if you later divorce, you are entitled to assets X, Y, and Z. Some states allow couples to get a legal separation without going through a divorce, but Florida does not. In Florida, a postnuptial agreement does a fair job of approximating the effects of a legal separation. It may specify, for example, that all income earned from the date of the agreement is the separate property of the spouse whose name is on the pay stub. It can even specify that one spouse must pay the other spouse a certain amount of money per month, assuming that the parties are living separately.
Contact Schwartz | White About Postnuptial Agreements
A South Florida family law attorney can help you face reality about your shaky marriage by signing a postnuptial agreement. Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.
Source:
scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7901091139451892118&q=divorce+garden&hl=en&as_sdt=4,10&as_ylo=2014&as_yhi=2024
