What Does a Prenup Do?

When couples prepare to marry, they often focus on planning their wedding day rather than considering what might happen if the marriage ends. At Cedeño Law Group, PLLC, we believe that discussing financial matters before marriage can actually strengthen your relationship by promoting openness and transparency. A prenuptial agreement (commonly called a “prenup”) is one tool that can help establish clear expectations and protections for both parties.

What Is a Prenuptial Agreement?

A prenuptial agreement is a legally binding contract created by two people before they marry. This document outlines how assets and liabilities will be handled during the marriage and divided if the marriage ends through divorce or death. While once considered relevant only for the wealthy, prenups have become increasingly common among couples from various financial backgrounds.

What Does a Prenup Do?

At Cedeño Law Group, PLLC, we help couples understand that a prenuptial agreement serves as a financial roadmap for marriage, providing clarity and protection for both parties regardless of their wealth status.

• Asset protection: A prenup clearly identifies and shields premarital property, ensuring assets you owned before marriage—including real estate, investments, and family heirlooms—remain your separate property not subject to division in case of divorce.
• Debt shielding: Your prenuptial agreement can protect you from responsibility for your spouse’s premarital debts and establish clear guidelines for handling debts acquired during the marriage, preventing unwanted financial liability.
• Business safeguarding: For business owners, a prenup can preserve your control and ownership of your company, preventing forced sale or unwanted partnership while potentially establishing fair compensation for your spouse’s indirect contributions to business growth.
• Inheritance preservation: A prenup can designate inherited assets or family wealth as separate property, ensuring these assets remain within your bloodline and protecting intended inheritance for children from previous relationships.
• Income and career planning: Your agreement can address how careers will be valued, particularly if one spouse will support the other through education or take time away from work to raise children, ensuring fair compensation for these contributions.
• Property division framework: A prenup establishes clear guidelines for dividing both separate and marital property, potentially avoiding costly and emotionally draining litigation by providing predetermined solutions for asset distribution.
• Spousal support parameters: Your prenuptial agreement can set reasonable limits on potential alimony obligations or establish predetermined support amounts based on the length of marriage and other relevant factors.
• Financial transparency promotion: The prenup creation process requires full financial disclosure from both parties, establishing a foundation of honesty about assets, debts, income, and financial expectations from the beginning of your marriage.
• Estate planning integration: A prenup can work harmoniously with your will and other estate planning documents, addressing spousal elective share rights and ensuring your assets are distributed according to your wishes upon death.
• Future earnings allocation: Your agreement can establish whether income earned during the marriage will be considered separate or marital property, particularly important for high-earning professionals or those expecting significant income growth.
• Intellectual property protection: A prenuptial agreement can specify ownership rights for intellectual property created before or during the marriage, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, and royalty streams.
• Family property preservation: For family businesses, heirlooms, or properties with generational significance, a prenup provides assurance that these treasured assets remain within the family regardless of marital outcomes.
• Financial responsibility clarity: Your agreement can establish expectations for financial management during marriage, including responsibility for household expenses, savings goals, and investment decision-making authority.
• Marital home provisions: A prenup can address specific arrangements for the marital residence, including ownership rights, buyout provisions, and occupancy rights if the marriage ends.

At Cedeño Law Group, PLLC, we create customized prenuptial agreements that address your unique financial situation and concerns while promoting fairness and transparency. By establishing clear financial boundaries and expectations before marriage, you can enter your union with confidence, having addressed potential sources of conflict before they arise.

How to Create an Enforceable Prenuptial Agreement

At Cedeño Law Group, PLLC, we understand that a prenuptial agreement is only valuable if it will stand up to legal scrutiny when needed, which requires careful attention to both substantive content and procedural requirements throughout the creation process.

• Early initiation timing: Begin the prenuptial agreement process at least six months before your wedding date to avoid claims of duress or coercion, allowing ample time for thoughtful negotiation, revisions, and reflection before signing.
• Complete financial disclosure: Both parties must provide comprehensive documentation of all assets, liabilities, income sources, and expected inheritances, as concealing significant financial information can render the entire agreement unenforceable.
• Independent legal representation: Each partner should retain separate legal counsel to review the agreement and provide advice, as this dual representation dramatically strengthens enforceability by ensuring both parties fully understand the implications.
• Fair and reasonable terms: While prenuptial agreements can favor one party over another, provisions cannot be unconscionable or extremely one-sided, particularly regarding spousal support waivers that might leave one partner destitute after divorce.
• Clear and specific language: Use precise, unambiguous terminology throughout the document, avoiding vague provisions that could be interpreted multiple ways and lead to enforcement challenges during divorce proceedings.
• Proper execution formalities: Follow all state-specific requirements for valid execution, including proper witnessing, notarization, and acknowledgments, as technical deficiencies can invalidate otherwise well-crafted agreements.
• Voluntary consent verification: Create documentation showing both parties entered the agreement willingly, potentially including video recording of the signing or written acknowledgments confirming absence of pressure or duress.
• Pre-signing review period: Provide sufficient time between presenting the final draft and signing, allowing both parties to thoroughly review the document with their respective attorneys before making this significant commitment.
• Factual recitals inclusion: Include clear statements about the purpose of the agreement, acknowledgment of financial disclosures, confirmation of legal representation, and other procedural facts that establish validity.
• Severability clause incorporation: Insert provisions stating that if certain sections are deemed unenforceable, the remainder of the agreement can still be upheld, preventing minor issues from invalidating the entire document.
• Lifestyle change provisions: Consider including terms that address how significant changes in circumstances (health issues, substantial wealth increases/decreases) might modify certain agreement provisions.
• Regular review scheduling: Build in expectations for periodic review and potential modification of the agreement at specified intervals or after major life events to ensure it remains relevant and reasonable over time.
• Choice of law specification: Clearly identify which state’s laws will govern interpretation and enforcement of the agreement, particularly important if you might relocate or maintain residences in multiple states.
• Legal compliance verification: Ensure the agreement avoids provisions that courts routinely invalidate, such as child custody determinations, waiver of child support, or terms encouraging divorce.

What a Prenup Cannot Do

We believe in providing complete information about prenuptial agreements, including their limitations, so couples can make informed decisions and maintain realistic expectations about what these legal documents can accomplish.

• Child custody arrangements: A prenuptial agreement cannot predetermine child custody or visitation rights, as courts always make these decisions based on the “best interests of the child” standard at the time of divorce, not on parents’ prior arrangements.
• Child support obligations: Courts maintain exclusive authority to determine appropriate child support payments based on state guidelines and the child’s needs, rendering any provisions attempting to waive or limit child support obligations unenforceable.
• Personal conduct requirements: Your prenup cannot enforce non-financial marital expectations such as frequency of intimacy, weight maintenance, housekeeping standards, or other personal behaviors, as courts view these provisions as contrary to public policy.
• Incentives for divorce: Provisions that would financially reward either spouse for initiating divorce proceedings are generally invalidated by courts as they may encourage marital dissolution rather than preservation.
• Complete alimony waivers: While prenups can place reasonable limits on spousal support, complete waivers of alimony may be overturned if they would leave one spouse destitute or dependent on public assistance after divorce.
• Unfair or unconscionable terms: Courts can invalidate provisions deemed grossly unfair at the time of enforcement, particularly if circumstances have dramatically changed since signing or if one spouse would face severe financial hardship.
• Fraudulent arrangements: Any provisions designed to hide assets, evade creditors, or circumvent legal obligations will be invalidated and may jeopardize the entire agreement’s enforceability.
• Non-financial decisions: Prenuptial agreements cannot dictate lifestyle choices such as where to live, religious practices for future children, holiday scheduling, or career decisions during the marriage.
• Inheritance rights for children: While a prenup can address how assets pass between spouses, it cannot override a parent’s right to determine inheritance for their children through proper estate planning documents like wills and trusts.
• Protection without disclosure: A prenuptial agreement cannot effectively protect assets that were deliberately concealed during the prenup negotiation process, as full financial disclosure is a fundamental requirement for validity.
• Legal representation requirements: Your prenup cannot waive either party’s right to seek independent legal counsel before signing, and agreements signed under duress or without proper legal guidance face higher risks of being invalidated.
• Automatic updates: Prenuptial agreements cannot automatically adjust to changed circumstances without formal modification, requiring couples to revisit and potentially revise their agreements as their financial situation evolves.

How To Know a Prenup Is Right For You

At Cedeño Law Group, PLLC, we understand that deciding whether to pursue a prenuptial agreement requires careful consideration of your unique financial circumstances, family situation, and future goals.

• Significant asset disparity: If you’re entering marriage with substantially more assets than your partner, a prenuptial agreement can clarify which properties remain separate and prevent unintended commingling during your marriage.
• Business ownership: Entrepreneurs, business partners, or professional practice owners benefit from prenuptial protection to ensure their business remains secure and operational regardless of marital status changes.
• Previous marriage experience: If you’ve been through divorce before, you understand the financial implications and may value the clarity and protection a prenuptial agreement provides for your new relationship.
• Children from prior relationships: When you have children from previous relationships, a prenup works alongside estate planning to ensure your assets ultimately benefit your children as intended, protecting their inheritance rights.
• Expected inheritance or family wealth: If you anticipate receiving substantial inheritance or have family wealth to preserve, a prenuptial agreement can designate these assets as separate property not subject to division.
• Significant income difference: Couples with substantial earning disparities may benefit from prenuptial clarity about financial responsibilities during marriage and potential support obligations if the relationship ends.
• Educational debt burden: When one partner brings significant student loans or other educational debt to the marriage, a prenup can establish that this financial responsibility remains with the individual who incurred it.
• Career sacrifice intentions: If one partner plans to leave their career to raise children or support the other’s professional advancement, a prenup can acknowledge this contribution and ensure fair compensation.
• Financial philosophy differences: Couples with contrasting approaches to spending, saving, or investment risk may find that the prenup process helps address these differences and establish mutually acceptable financial boundaries.
• Family business involvement: If you’re part of a family business or expected to take on a significant role in one, a prenuptial agreement protects both the family enterprise and your spouse from potential complications.
• High-risk profession: Individuals in careers with significant liability exposure (doctors, lawyers, financial advisors) often use prenuptial agreements to shield their spouse from professional liabilities while protecting personal assets.
• Second marriage financial clarity: Later-in-life marriages often involve complex financial landscapes from decades of independent living, making prenuptial agreements valuable for maintaining financial autonomy within the partnership.
• Comfort with financial transparency: If you and your partner already openly discuss finances and future plans, the prenuptial process will likely feel like a natural extension of your existing financial communication.
• Property in multiple jurisdictions: Owning real estate or assets in different states or countries creates complex legal questions that a prenuptial agreement can address proactively, providing clarity across jurisdictions.

How To Approach the Prenup Conversation

At Cedeño Law Group, PLLC, we recognize that discussing a prenuptial agreement with your partner may feel challenging, but with proper preparation and the right mindset, this conversation can actually strengthen your relationship by promoting financial transparency and shared long-term planning.

• Timing consideration: Initiate the prenup conversation early in your engagement—ideally six months or more before the wedding—to allow ample time for thoughtful discussion, professional consultation, and emotional processing without the added pressure of looming wedding deadlines.
• Setting selection: Choose a private, neutral environment for this important discussion, preferably during a calm moment when both partners are relaxed and not distracted by other stressors, avoiding public places or times when either partner feels rushed.
• Framing as protection: Present the prenuptial agreement as mutual protection rather than preparation for divorce, emphasizing how it provides clarity for both partners and can actually strengthen your commitment by addressing potential sources of future conflict.
• Personal values connection: Link your prenup discussion to your shared values around financial responsibility, honesty, and family planning, helping your partner understand how the agreement aligns with your mutual goals rather than undermining them.
• Active listening practice: Approach the conversation with genuine openness to your partner’s concerns, questions, and emotional reactions, creating space for them to express reservations without judgment or defensive responses.
• Financial goals integration: Position the prenuptial process as part of broader financial planning that includes discussing retirement goals, potential career changes, asset management, and other aspects of your financial future together.
• Family business context: If family business interests or inheritance expectations are driving your desire for a prenup, explain these considerations thoroughly, helping your partner understand the third-party obligations and family expectations involved.
• Previous experience honesty: If past relationship experiences influence your desire for a prenuptial agreement, share this context thoughtfully but without dwelling excessively on past relationships, focusing instead on the lessons learned.
• Child protection explanation: When children from previous relationships are involved, frame prenuptial provisions as responsible parenting that ensures your ability to provide for all your children, not as prioritizing them over your new marriage.
• Reciprocal benefit highlighting: Identify specific ways the agreement can protect both partners’ interests, particularly if one partner initially perceives the prenup as primarily benefiting the other, emphasizing provisions that offer mutual protection.
• Professional mediation consideration: If discussions become emotionally charged, suggest involving a neutral third party such as a financial planner, mediator, or counselor who can help facilitate productive conversation and bridge understanding gaps.
• Fairness commitment: Express your genuine commitment to creating an agreement that feels fair and reasonable to both partners, making clear that your goal is protection rather than advantage, and demonstrating willingness to address concerns constructively.
• Continued dialogue expectation: Establish that this initial conversation opens an ongoing discussion rather than requiring immediate agreement, allowing both partners time to process information, consult advisors, and return with questions or suggestions.
• Legal representation encouragement: Emphasize that independent legal counsel for each partner strengthens rather than undermines the process, ensuring both parties fully understand the agreement and have professional advocacy for their interests.

Secure Your Future Together with Cedeño Law Group

Planning for your shared financial future deserves the same care and attention as planning your wedding. Our experienced attorneys provide compassionate guidance through the prenuptial agreement process, helping you build a foundation of transparency and security for your marriage. Contact us today for a confidential consultation to discuss how we can help protect what matters most to both of you.