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How do I know if a prenup is right for me?

Prenups aren't just for the rich and famous—anyone planning for the future and making smart money moves can benefit.

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Deciding to get married is a big decision, and so is deciding if you should get a prenup or not. As you do your research on prenups and learn about what they can and can’t contain, you may be wondering, "how do I decide if a prenup is right for me and my partner?" Let's explore who might benefit most from a prenup and how to assess if it's the right choice for you.

Who Should Consider a Prenup?

While prenups are customized to individual situations, certain factors come in to play for considering when they might be particularly advantageous:

‍Hanan Zaki, J.D., LL.M. tells couples to consider the following:

Do you own real estate?
Do you have more than $50,000 in assets?
Do you earn more than $100,000 a year in earned income?
Do you own any part of a business?
Do you have more than one year's worth of retirement benefits?
Do you have employment benefits such as stock options or profit-sharing?
Do you or your partner plan to go to school for an advanced degree while the other works?
Does a part of your estate name beneficiaries or heirs other than your partner?

If you or your partner answers yes to one or more of these questions, you may want to consider a prenup to protect your assets.

Another reason to consider a prenup is if you have a pet. Did you know that in California (and many other parts of the U.S.), pets are classified as the personal property of their owner? By getting a prenup, you can classify your pet as separate property, helping to avoid an ownership dispute in the event of divorce.

Often people think of prenups as something for the rich and famous, but anyone who wants to make smart money moves, and plan for the future, can benefit. As Stan Sarkisov and Kate Stoddard write for the Bar Association of San Francisco, “every married Californian has a prenuptial/premarital agreement (“prenup”)—it’s the California Family Code.” What they mean is, even if you haven’t drafted and executed your own prenup, the state of California gives you one anyway – a “prenup” that you and your partner might not know the ins and outs of (unless you happen to study family law in your free time). Many couples would like to take that power back into their own hands.

Sources: findlaw.com - Section 2605 of the California Family Code

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