Should My Spouse and I Sign a Postnuptial Agreement?

 Posted on November 02, 2023 in Family Law

Many people have heard about a prenuptial agreement, a sort of contract drawn up between two people about to join together in the bonds of marriage. A prenuptial agreement is like a rainy-day policy: something you have ready “just in case” but hope you will not need. However, engaged couples often opt out of a prenuptial agreement and later regret doing so. If you are already married but think having an agreement in place “just in case,” a Kane County, IL divorce lawyer can help guide you and your spouse through the process of establishing a postnuptial agreement.

What Is a Postnuptial Agreement?

To a large degree, a postnuptial agreement is almost the same as a prenuptial agreement, aside from the fact that it is signed after a wedding instead of beforehand.

Similar to a prenuptial agreement, a postnuptial agreement will aim to:

• Describe in detail any spousal support agreements that would take effect if the couple gets divorced
• Protect the spouses’ respective inheritance (property, money, investments, etc.) by ensuring that these remain the exclusive property of the spouse who inherited them
• Include a list of marital expenses each spouse will generally cover
• List the assets that each spouse owned before entering into marriage, which will help them protect their ownership of any assets that were theirs before the wedding.

Why Are People Hesitant about Prenuptial or Postnuptial Agreements?

People generally like to think positively and avoid negative, pessimistic thoughts. When you have just fallen in love and are about to embark on a journey together, you want to think about how you will live happily ever after and avoid any thoughts that could make you think divorce is in your future. That is fair enough, of course, and only natural for a couple that is young and in love.

However, sometimes things may be unpleasant to think about, but later in life, you may find you are so thankful that you did think about them. Take a will, for example. It is natural not to want to think about your death and what will happen to the people you leave behind once you die, and that is a reason people push off writing up a will. However, having a will does not mean you are influencing when you will die. It only means that once you do, your family will not need to go through the pain and stress of trying to figure out what you would have wanted.

It is the same for a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. Engaged and married couples do not generally enjoy thinking about a hypothetical future divorce. However, divorce is so common that people should be prepared, just in case they go down that road as well. Having a prenuptial or postnuptial is a smart way to deal with all the unpleasant questions before they are relevant. They may never actually need to be addressed since many marriages do not end in divorce. But on the off chance that you might end up divorced later in life, having worked these issues out way in advance will make everything smoother.

Schedule a Free Consultation with a St. Charles, IL Postnuptial Agreement Attorney

If you and your spouse regret that you never drew up a prenuptial agreement, it is not too late! An experienced Kane County, IL family lawyer can guide you through the process of creating a postnuptial agreement, which will be able to provide you with the same peace of mind. Call Goostree Law Group at 630-584-4800 today to schedule a free consultation.