Many married couples are unfamiliar with marital agreements, which can be used to help prevent future disputes and disagreements. More specifically, couples can use marital agreements to preemptively decide property and support issues in the event of a separation or divorce.
If you are interested in drafting such a contract or need more information, get in touch with a Cobb County marital agreements lawyer. A qualified family attorney can sit down with you and review your assets, property, and family situation to draft an agreement that fits your needs. They can also help you decide what you want in a marital agreement and work to make sure you are satisfied with the result.
Marital agreements usually enable married or engaged couples to decide potentially difficult issues such as property distribution in advance of any potential separation or divorce. This allows couples to discuss issues in a less stressful and less contentious environment.
For example, couples may use a marital agreement to decide how they wish to split their marital property, which usually includes most property purchased or acquired by married individuals. Courts generally split marital property as equitably as possible during divorce proceedings.
However, a marital agreement may be able to help an individual obtain a specific piece of marital property they want or need. Additionally, such an agreement may be useful to someone who simply wants control over how they divide their own assets. A local lawyer could assist couples who are interested in dividing their property using a marital agreement.
Couples may also use marital agreements to allocate spousal support, often called alimony. Georgia law generally permits individuals to agree to a specific amount of support payment. For example, Official Code of Georgia Annotated §19-6-8 allows couples to contract for alimony in cases of a permanent separation.
Couples may structure alimony payments in a marital agreement in different ways. They may, for example, decide on either a lump-sum payment or on periodic payments for a specific period of time.
Marital agreements or spousal contracts deciding child custody are generally permissible in Cobb County, as long as a judge gives final approval of the desired custody outcome, according to O.C.G.A. §19-9-5. This law does not, however, allow couples to include terms on child support in a marital contract.
Although most couples never anticipate getting separated or divorced, it unfortunately happens to many married individuals. The divorce process can involve difficult decisions at every stage, especially when it comes to property, spousal support, and numerous other issues.
As a result, many married couples may benefit from deciding these issues well in advance. A Cobb County marital agreements lawyer can assist you with these and other issues while working with you to draft a spousal contract that gives you control over your own future.
Our goal is to assist you in deciding potentially complicated issues now to avoid having to worry about them in the future. For further information, get in touch with our intake team to set up an initial discussion of your case.