PERSONAL FINANCE: When Valentines and prenups go together ...

Wed Feb 15, 2012 3:29pm EST

(The author is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed
are her own.)

By Kathleen Kingsbury

NEW YORK Feb 15 (Reuters) ? With a flurry of
Valentine?s Day matrimony proposals over, it could be time for
new fiancees to take a financial existence check.

Four million Americans got vigilant on Tuesday, as estimated
by an American Express consult expelled in January. Unromantic as
it competence seem, everybody needs a straightforward review about finances
before they travel down a aisle, including one that touches on
whether or not to pointer a prenuptial agreement.

?All marriages terminate, either it is in divorce or
death,? says Patricia Annino, a Boston-based profession and estate
planner. ?Signing a prenuptial agreement is declaration your
assets go where we wish them to.?

Money issues are one of a many ordinarily cited reasons for
marital strife. So, adding a vehement financial comment to
one?s matrimony to-do list competence go a prolonged approach toward minimizing
disagreements down a road.

WHO SHOULD SIGN A PRENUP

A common myth about prenups is that they customarily apply
if one partner brings in significantly some-more resources to a
marriage, or in a box of May-December romances, where there?s
a far-reaching age gap. But they should also be deliberate by those
marrying in mid-career, or those remarrying.

?Statistics tell us that couples are marrying after in life,
after they?ve had careers and alone built their possess wealth.
Or people are marrying for a second or third time,? says Steve
Hartnett, associate executive of preparation during a American
Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys. ?These are a exact
situations where prenups are critical.?

Equally critical are situations where there are children
from a prior marriage. ?Parents will mostly wish to be sure
their children are supposing for in box of their death,? says
Elaine Morgillo, a approved financial planner in North Andover,
Massachusetts.

For younger couples, prenups are mostly sought when one
partner stands to accept a vast estate or binds a stake
in a family business. Morgillo recalls one integrate who had never
been married and had identical incomes, though a bride-to-be
expected an estate and a husband owned several rental
properties.

?Inheritances aren?t always sacred, though she wanted hers
protected and it helps to uncover intent,? Morgillo says. ?She knew
he felt a same approach about his properties.?

GROWING IN POPULARITY

When her beloved of 6 years sat her down on their living
room cot final Valentine?s Day, Christen Petitt Hailey thought
she was about to get a opening cleaner. Instead, he due and
the Tampa, Florida, integrate were married final November.

?Before we were married, we came adult with an arrangement
where we always lonesome a debt and utilities, and she paid
for groceries or entertainment,? says Shaun Hailey, 36, a
mortgage underwriter. ?She had somewhat reduction income, so this
division seemed to work out to be a fairest.?

Indeed, this kind of ad hoc divvying adult is how many modern
couples hoop their finances. Many are realizing this competence not
be a smartest route, however.

?We like to contend matrimony vows currently have spin ?love,
honor, combine your finances,?? says Anthony Fittizzi, a wealth
advisor for U.S. Trust, that recently launched a financial
empowerment module to warn clients ages 20 to 35. ?Couples
don?t indispensably take into comment issues like a start-up
costs of marriage, insurance, income government or dividing
property.?

Fittizzi?s motto: Sign on a bottom line before we contend ?I
do.? Nearly a third of singular Americans pronounced they would ask
their poignant other for a prenup, according to a February
2010 check by Harris Interactive. A second poll, by a American
Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, found that 73 percent of divorce
attorneys had seen an boost in prenups sealed from 2005 to
2010, with some-more women initiating a routine than ever before.

No doubt a high divorce rate has done prenups more
acceptable, though a economy competence be personification a role, too.

?With this capricious economy, there is some-more dread about
assets,? says Arlene Dubin, a New York City profession and author
of a book ?Prenups for Lovers: A Romantic Guide to Prenuptial
Agreements.? ?Clients see prenups as critical to safeguarding what
they?ve built.?

MAKING A PRENUP STICK

Prenups generally cover genuine estate, estate planning,
division of bank accounts, and alimony, in box a marriage
should end. Child control or support can?t be included, and
protecting retirement or grant advantages competence need extra
steps. There are also stairs that should be taken to safeguard that
the prenup binds adult in court. These include:

POPPING THE (PRENUP) QUESTION EARLY

Many lovebirds competence find seeking their pledged to pointer a
prenup awkward, though watchful until a final notation can backfire.
?You shouldn?t be bringing it adult in a limo on a approach to the
church,? says Evan Sussman, a Beverly Hills-based divorce
attorney. ?From a authorised standpoint, we don?t wish a other
person to be means to explain compulsion later.? Sussman recommends the
subject be broached before matrimony invitations go out, or at
least several weeks before a event.

AVOIDING FINANCIAL INFIDELITY

Prenups aren?t for any couple, though deliberation one often
brings onward pivotal financial questions that move some-more honesty
into a marriage. A 2010 check by a non-profit CESI Debt
Solutions found 80 percent of spouses spent income their partner
didn?t know about.

Some attorneys suggest seeking for a credit report. At the
very least, Dubin says, ?You need a line-by-line matter of
assets and liabilities so we can understanding with a ramifications.?
Student loans, credit label balances, and IRS liens are some of
the debts a associate can after be hold obliged for.

Still, Dubin says, ?Before we start this process, prepare
yourself for whatever competence come. And know during what indicate you?d
have to travel away.? The same, of course, goes for seeking for a
prenup and carrying your partner spin we down.

RETAINING SEPARATE LAWYERS

A second means to plea a prenup in justice is if the
couple are not represented by apart attorneys. This is to
guarantee that one spouse, customarily a less-wealthy partner, is
not taken advantage of.

?Imagine if Mark Zuckerberg wanted to marry his housekeeper
who didn?t pronounce English and he insisted she pointer a prenup,?
Hartnett says. ?Having a efficient counsel on both sides of the
table means any celebration gets a satisfactory agreement.?

That said, when selecting authorised representation, be certain the
attorney we select understands this is a start of a marriage,
not a end.

?When a counsel is overly adversarial, it can lead to a lot
of dread and ?do we adore me? questions,? says Cicily Maton,
partner during a Chicago organisation Aequus Wealth Management. ?You
should select an advocate, though do your due industry about their
style.?

Of course, prenuptial agreements can always be renegotiated
as a matrimony evolves. ?The initial breeze can always be ripped up,?
says Ginita Wall, a San Diego-based approved financial planner.
?I had one set of clients on a sixth iteration of their prenup
when they motionless to divorce.?

For a Haileys, being vigilant meant most financial
discussion. They chose in matrimony to keep all their finances
separate, including their taxation filings. They didn?t opt for a
prenup, though ?getting it all out on a list upfront means no
surprises,? Shaun Hailey says.

Instead, he says, ?We can combine on saving for the
important things, like a honeymoon.?

(Editing by Jilian Mincer, Bernadette Baum and Andrew Hay)

Source: http://paydayloans-uk.org/personal-finance-when-valentines-and-prenups-go-together/

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