Beckstrom & Beckstrom, LLP

Marriage is expected to last forever. It’s supposed to be that one person all your life. The trouble is, fifty percent of all marriages in the United States now end in divorce. If you plan to take a second trip to the alter soon, you may want to consider signing a prenuptial agreement first.

Nevada Is a Community Property State

There are only nine states left in the entire country that look at debt and assets gained in the marriage as equal for both parties in a divorce. If your new spouse racks up a million dollars in gambling debt and you divorce, guess what? The judge says half of that is your problem. If you win the biggest prize Las Vegas has, and you divorce, you have to give half to the spouse. IT doesn’t matter who incurs or gains what. The courts here will split it all down the middle during a divorce. 

You Probably Already Lost Half in Your Prior Divorce

It’s sad and unfortunate, but if you are still paying on debt your ex incurred, you carry that debt into the new marriage and your new spouse is now responsible. It’s hardly fair, considering your devotion and love to this new person. If you are supposed to pay alimony and/or child support on top of that, you probably don’t have much left.

Losing what you have left to another divorce probably isn’t the way you want things to go, but it could. It’s best to protect what you have now and protect the new spouse against old debt. Consider it a show of love to sign a prenup that states that if you two eventually separate, he or she doesn’t have to pay half of your old debts from a previous marriage.

Second Marriages Occur Later in Life When You Have More

A lot of times, second marriages occur later in life. You may have finally built up a little nest egg for yourself, despite past issues and your first marriage gone south. If you want to hold onto that and make sure you still have it for later, a prenup becomes a necessity for self-protection and self-care. 

Additionally, if you have retirement assets that are doing well, you could be forced to liquidate those assets and give your second ex-spouse half. That really wouldn’t leave you with much at all. If you are still required to split assets with your first ex-spouse, then you really wouldn’t have any retirement funds whatsoever.

Prenuptial Agreements Are Air-Tight

You don’t want this marriage to end in divorce, and that’s normal. You don’t expect it to, and that’s typical too. However, you don’t want to be saddled with your new spouse’s debts or have your assets taken away from you. A prenup that is drawn up well creates an air-tight situation that prevents anything bad from happening to either party. It’s even smart to work on the prenup together so that neither of you feel like the other is trying to get something out of a divorce that may not happen. 

Lawyers are really good at listing everything of value and who it should remain with. They also list every debt and who it belongs to, and ensure that those debts stay with the person they came with. As for future assets and debts, you and your future spouse can choose how it will be divided in a way that you both feel comfortable with signing this legal agreement.

If You Do Split Up, the Judge Can’t Change It

In the off chance that you and your new spouse do split up, the judge in family court cannot deny or change what the prenup says. The only way a judge could change what happens is if you and your spouse had previously agreed to an “expiration date” for the prenup. In this situation, the two of you had put an addendum in the prenup stating that after “x” number of years, the prenup would be null and void. Few couples do that, but it has been done. 

Otherwise, the judge will follow exactly what is in the prenup. Everything is split between you and this second spouse according to the agreement. The only other things a judge would have to determine is regarding any children that were born to the marriage.