Diamonds, dresses, flowers, and caterers are what couples typically discuss when they decide to get married; but, let me tell you what the topics turn to when couples decide to get divorced; alimony, marital property, and “equitable” division of assets.

Couples can avoid all of the emotional stress and pomp and circumstance of a formal wedding by simply running off to a Las Vegas and seeking a drive through chapel.  This alternative to a traditional wedding is arguably cheaper, more adventurous, and possibly even more fun.

Like the Vegas alternative to a formal wedding, there is a cheaper, easier, and less traumatic alternative to divorce litigation; a prenuptial agreement.  Everyone thinks that prenuptial agreement is a dirty word, well, two dirty words.  I promise you that there are much dirtier words in the arena of domestic law, including attorneys fees, alimony, dissipation of martial assets, and bankruptcy to name but a few.

A common misconception about prenuptial agreements is that they are only for people who have previously been married and have a lot of assets or professional football players, actors, rock stars, i.e. the very wealthy.  This is simply not correct.  Prenuptial agreements are just as helpful to couples who have minimal pre-marital asset or pre-marital debt obligations going into a marriage because no one can know how long the parties will be married or what the parties may acquire while they are married and if those pre-marital assets or pre-marital debts become comingled with other marital property or marital debt then problems may arise.

A prenuptial agreement can even be helpful to a couple that has no pre-marital assets or debts.  Consider the young soon to be wife who forgoes her education and career to stay home and take care of the household and children?  Should she not be entitled to some percentage of her husband’s annual income for until she can take the necessary steps to become financially independent in the event of divorce?  Most people, though likely not to include her husband, would agree that she is entitled to alimony.  Regardless of anyone’s opinion, alimony is provided for by statute in Maryland.  Rather than take this matter before the court in litigation, the parties could have a prenuptial agreement to state that by agreement of the parties wife will discontinue her graduate school program to be a full-time stay at home mother until the youngest child of the parties is school-aged and if the parties divorce prior to this occurring then in addition to any child support payable to wife, wife shall be entitled to 20% of husband’s gross annual income, averaged over the previous 3 tax years.

Or again for our couple with no pre-marital assets, the agreement could be as simple as the parties hereto have no previously acquired non-martial assets and therefore they agree that all personal property, real property, bank accounts, stocks and retirement funds acquired during their marriage shall be marital property and shall be divided equitably, 50% to each party, in the event the parties should divorce.   I assume that there may be a couple of folks out there, maybe even family law attorneys, who know a little something about the Maryland Marital Property Act who are asking well what good does that do since the law provides for an equitable distribution of marital property anyway?  What the Maryland Marital Property Act actually says is that all property determined to be marital property is subject to equitable division by the court.  Let me assure you that equitable does not mean equal 50/50 shares in the minds of most parties who are going through a divorce.

If you are mature and compatible enough to contemplate entering into marriage then you should be able to have a frank discussion about what is reasonable in the event your marriage ends.  If a couple cannot even discuss the topic of a prenuptial agreement, well, need I say more?

This is the first article in an ongoing series about different types of domestic law agreements. The next article will discuss separation agreements.  As always, we here at Delaney & Keffler, LLC will provide you will practical solutions to real world problems and help you to protect your assets and your legal rights. Contact us today at 410-535-3476 (FIRM) or welcome@delaneykeffler.com for a free consultation.