Texas and Florida Prenuptial and Postmarital Agreements
At Bertolino LLP in both Austin and Houston, as well as Miami, we advise our family law clients about the pros and cons of prenuptial and postnuptial agreements. We negotiate, review, draft, and enforce these agreements on behalf of our clients in a wide variety of situations. To learn more about our ability to protect your interests and to best articulate your objectives in a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, contact one of our experienced family law lawyers for dependable and sound advice.
A prenuptial agreement or postnuptial agreement is executed by the parties before or after marriage, and can achieve any of several objectives: defining certain assets as community or separate property; clarifying that certain transfers from one spouse to another are gifts; waiving or specifying one spouse's right to alimony in the event of a divorce; or characterizing certain debts of one spouse or the other as community or separate indebtedness. About the only limitation on the substance of a premarital agreement is the statutory prohibition of any term that would adversely affect a child's right to support.
Situations where it might make sense to best execute a prenuptial agreement or postnuptial agreement include the following:
- Disparity of income or wealth between the parties
- Second marriage for one or both parties
- Marriage later in life after the parties have established careers or accumulated substantial assets
- One party expects a significant inheritance
- One spouse or the other has children from a previous marriage
- The spouses are engaged in business together
Texas law is fairly strict about the procedural aspects of a prenuptial agreement. The terms cannot be unconscionable, both parties must have signed voluntarily, and each party must have made a full disclosure of relevant financial information to the other. As a practical matter, the enforceability of a proposed prenuptial agreement will be more secure if each spouse has an opportunity for independent legal review of the terms by independent lawyers.
Our vast experience with business law, tax law, and estate planning as well as with family law gives us the ability to review the terms of a proposed prenuptial agreement, or to draft an agreement that protects your best and essential interests on terms that are fair to your future spouse. We can also suggest options that might not have occurred to either of you.
To learn more about our experience with agreements between spouses both before and after marriage, contact an attorney at Bertolino LLP in either Austin or Houston or Miami.
Contact a Texas or Florida Prenuptial / Postnuptial Lawyer at Bertolino LLP
Bertolino LLP maintains offices in Austin, Houston and Miami. To reach an attorney in the Austin office, call 512.476.5757. For the Houston office, call 713.225.7474. For the Miami office, call 305.493.3747. You may also contact the firm by e-mail.
