There are many things that people should take into consideration when they are creating a prenuptial agreement says family lawyers Edmonton. Ultimately, people need to consider what the goal of the document will be, and what they want the contract to do. There may be very different reasons depending on the couple, from protecting assets and property, to simply creating a document that has an outline of how they are going to end their marriage together.
The first thing that people need to do, is talk to each other and have a very frank conversation about the importance of them, as well as the goal. Family lawyers Edmonton says that when people are in agreement to how important they are, they can enter into drafting up the agreement on the same page. This can eliminate the amount of negotiations and discussions that they have, and help ensure that the integrity of the document is preserved.
Ultimately, if a prenuptial agreement ends up being something that one partner refuses to sign, it will be waste of time and money, because neither party can feel forced to sign a document and have it remain legally binding. Therefore it is very important that people are talking about this early on in their relationship to ensure that they agree with the concept.
The next thing that they need to do, is ensure that they are leaving enough time to prepare the prenuptial agreement before the wedding. Family lawyers Edmonton recommends that people start drafting it anywhere between 6 to 9 months prior to the marriage. Not only is there a lot of information to go through, and depending how many clauses they include, and how much wealth and assets they have, it can be very time-consuming process.
The paperwork that people need to get together prior to meeting with their lawyer to draft up this contract would be a list of all of their assets as well as a list of all their liabilities. Family lawyers Edmonton says that people need to ensure that they are bringing supporting documents as well, and they have proof of all of their income streams. This means all of their banking information, their personal and corporate tax returns and T fours and T fives. They should come prepared with 2 to 3 years of this information, that both parties can be certain of knowing each other’s full and complete financial information.
When they discuss the prenuptial agreement with their lawyer, they need to ensure that there being crystal-clear on the reason why this contract is being drafted up, and what the goal will be. By being upfront and honest not just with each other, but with the lawyer can result in a fair agreement being drafted up, that not only protects both parties in event of a divorce. But it can ensure that they have the directions about what they are going to do in case there worst-case scenario happens, and they end up filing for divorce.
Family Lawyers Edmonton | Drafting Up a Prenuptial Agreement
If people understand the goal of most prenuptial agreements, family lawyers Edmonton says more people would be in favour of them. However, the most often people hear about them, are in the media when a marriage ending between two celebrities has gone bad. However, people need to understand that most prenuptial agreements are simple contracts that can help them not only divide their assets and property in case of an marital breakdown. But also ensure that they have outlined how they are going to divorce each other, if that is the outcome of their marriage.
There are many misconceptions that people believe about their prenuptial agreements, and some of these misconceptions cause people to want to avoid them. One of the first prenuptial agreement misconception is that they become void after a certain number of years of marriage. This is a very common misconception, and it is completely false. Prenuptial agreements will remain valid forever unless one of two things happen. Family lawyers Edmonton says the first thing is if they do divorce, and the contract is enacted. The second thing, is it will remain valid until both parties take legal steps to terminate it. Therefore, people need to ensure that when they are entering into a prenuptial agreement, it does not matter how long they have been married if it is ten, twenty or more years they will still have that prenuptial agreement in effect.
Another prenuptial agreement is that once it is created, it is written in stone and cannot be changed. This is again false says family lawyers Edmonton. It can be revised as many times as people want, as long as they are ensuring that they are going through the legal requirements of the legislation of their area to verify that the revised versions are legally enforceable. This can mean that if a couple has children, acquires assets or wealth then they are able to include those new provisions into their contract.
Another misconception that a lot of people have about a prenuptial agreement is that it is often used as an unfair advantage over one person who is very wealthy over someone who is not. This is again very false, because it is very important that both people are well aware of the contents of the contract, and that they both sign of their own free will, after completely understanding what it says. In fact, the legal requirements state that both parties must obtain separate legal counsel in order for the contract to be legally binding once signed.
Once people understand the truth about prenuptial agreements, family lawyers Edmonton says that they can be more prepared to draft one up with their significant other prior to getting married. Ultimately, it ensures that people can leave the marriage with what they brought in, and that they have directions to follow in the unfortunate circumstance that their marriage may end. By drafting this up ahead of time can minimize how much people have to spend on divorce lawyers, and help them avoid litigating in court.