San Diego Prenuptial Agreement Lawyer
Real-World Reasons For a Prenuptial Agreement

Not all of these reasons apply to everyone, but some will apply to you. If just one makes sense to you, a well-crafted prenuptial agreement could save you from future marital complications, expense and stress.

1. Retain control of your income and investments. When you can nail down the details of your finances in advance, neither you nor your spouse need fret over the implications of day-to-day variations.
2. Isolate yourself from your spouse's less-than-ideal credit (or vice versa), and let future investments and high-caliber purchases be anchored by the best ratings available.
3. Shield your assets from your spouse's past debt and creditors, especially in the case of credit card debt, foreclosure or an upside-down mortgage. In many states (including California), community property becomes liable for one spouse's debts, even taken before the marriage (California Family Code Section 910).
4. Shield your assets from new debt generated by a spouse during the marriage, pursuant to California Family Code Section 910 & 914. For example, some folks spend therapeutically to make themselves feel better, so don't let things be tougher than they need be.
5. Establish formulae to determine how separately held property becomes community property, and what restrictions will prevent it this device is built into California Family Code Section 852, and can outline what property remains separate, and why.
6. Predetermine levels of spousal support to reflect the real financial situation both before and after the wedding homes owned, earnings, participation in business rather than letting the state apply community-property laws that don't consider pre-marriage income and assets. Even a brief marriage could create huge disparities in a divorce.
7. Preserve the integrity and value of your business by declaring its value and ownership in its pre-marital state. By asserting the details of ownership for yourself or for children involved in your company (another argument for prenuptials as a wedding gift), you can avoid not only the risk of being taken by unscrupulous in-laws, but the costs of the forensic auditing necessary to determine individual ownership percentages and values necessary for a settlement.
8. Protect your assets and income in the case of a spouse's prior responsibilities to alimony or child support. The California courts have already confirmed the legitimacy of guarding your personal finances by rendering them separate property, shielded from the pursuits of your now-spouse's ex, in Re the Marriage of Shupe, also California Family Code Section 915.
9. Remove the negative influences that financial, monetary and property-based pressures place on a couple. It will be your number-one responsibility as a new couple to focus on building yourselves a perfect union, and the quality of your relationship is what will matter most, not what it's worth on paper. Don't be distracted by details that can be sorted out before taking your first steps as a couple.