Some couples who have experienced financial infidelity choose to work on the marriage instead of calling it quits. One way they are able to feel secure in giving the marriage a chance is to enter a postnup. Post-marital agreements take the uncertainty out of an unfaithful spouse’s promises.
Setting Condition Precedents
Some spouses set a condition precedent when drafting a postnuptial agreement. Condition precedents are negotiable, meaning you get to talk about what’s important to the two of you at the time of a divorce, whether that’s the length of the marriage or the cause of the breakup.
An example of a condition precedent is if a couple divorces within two years, there’ll be no spousal support; after five years, there’ll be X amount of spousal support; after 10 years, that increases so on and so forth. Postnups also often include infidelity clauses, which usually deny spousal support if someone is unfaithful but could also grant more spousal support if the breadwinner is unfaithful.
Using a Postnup to Protect the Marital Estate from Financial Infidelity
Another important thing to keep in mind is that just because someone is running up credit card debt in their own name doesn’t mean it’s not marital debt. This is a common source of friction in many marriages.
While it is understandable for someone to no longer want to be married if they’re going to be responsible for a massive amount of debt in their spouse’s name, many couples choose to work on the marriage and try to make it stronger. It is possible to put a postnuptial agreement in place that says, “The debt in your name is yours, and the debt in my name is mine.” You may also identify joint debt to be considered in the event of a divorce.
Postnups supply people with the confidence to make the decision whether to stay and work on that relationship or terminate the marriage and what that will look like. Post-marital contracts also save time and money in the event of divorce, since you pay for the attorneys’ fees now, which are going to be a whole lot less than if you have to go through a divorce where you’re arguing about how to divide things. To learn more about how our attorneys can help you save your marriage from financial infidelity through the use of a postnup agreement, call our firm today.
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