Pennsylvania Family Law Blog

Married couples have disagreements for many reasons, although, in the current recession, the main clashing point tends to revolve around a couple’s financial situation. Financial disputes and worries can cause emotional stress, which, if left unresolved, can take its toll on a marriage. According to The Huffington Post, however, all your marriage may need to de-stress and move on is a post-nuptial agreement.

Similar to a pre-marital agreement, a post-nuptial agreement is a voluntary, signed contract that codifies each spouse’s responsibilities and obligations regarding spending, debt, and assets. However, post-nuptial agreements, as the name suggests, is an after-marriage contract. Having a pre- or post-nuptial agreement does not determine the success of every marriage, but every marriage is different, and some marriages have deep-seeded issues that can be resolved with a legal contract. Some of these issues include:

• Responsibility of debt;
• Joint versus individual property;
• Disposal of business after disability, divorce, or death;
• Allocation of earnings;
• Business roles;
• Future priorities, such as children, education, and retirement;
• Distribution of assets after divorce or death;
• Life insurance; and
• Wills.

Unresolved or unmitigated financial disagreements and uncertainties have the potential to make married couples forget why they got married in the first place. If you and your spouse live in Pennsylvania and believe that a post-nuptial agreement is the best option to resolve your marital disputes, contact the experienced Chester County post-nuptial agreement attorneyy Sheryl R. Rentz at 866-290-9292 for a consultation. Ms. Rentz will answer all of your questions and address all of your concerns while helping you decide what the best course of action is for you and your spouse.

Most people have heard of a pre-nuptial agreement, but many are not aware of post-nuptial agreements. Also referred to as post-marital agreements, this agreement is similar to a prenup but with one key difference: The agreement is entered into once a couple has been married, not before.

Just like a prenup, a post-nuptial agreement in Pennsylvania aims to settle what will happen in the event of a divorce or death. Much like the contents of a prenup, its contents can vary greatly, but typically includes the following:

• A listing of all the assets of both parties, including income, inheritances, debts, and liabilities, and describing how debts will be paid, how property will be divided, and who will retain inheritances and other gifts.
• A plan for how alimony, spousal support, and child support (if applicable) will be paid.
• Details regarding what happens in the event of the death of either party, including information about medical and insurance coverage. Future earnings and other expected gains should also be accounted for.
• Information about the future care, custody, and visitation rights to children (if applicable).

In Pennsylvania, even if one party did not have the post-nuptial agreement reviewed by a family law attorney, it is still considered valid. While you are certainly able to draft and enter into the agreement on your own, working with an experienced post-nuptial agreement attorney in Pennsylvania will ensure that your assets and other financial interests are legally protected in the event of a divorce.

At The Law Offices of Sheryl R. Rentz, our lawyers understand the importance of getting to know our clients in order to draft a post-nuptial agreement that meets their needs. To learn how we can help you plan for your future, call our law offices at 610-645-0100.

When two people get engaged, plan out a wedding, and officially become a married couple, they often do not take into consideration the repercussions that may result from a divorce. For many couples, the mere mentioning of a pre-marital agreement can be rather offsetting, particularly if its mentioning comes at an inopportune time. However, even if a pre-marital agreement was not decided upon prior to saying “I do,” a post-nuptial agreement can always be drawn up after the wedding.

Like a pre-nuptial agreement, post-nuptial agreements are legally binding contracts that stipulate the allocation of goods or assets in the event a marriage ends in divorce. These agreements should not be considered evidence of bad things to come, but as safeguards in the event that a marriage unforeseeably must come to an end. Post-nuptial agreements protect property acquired prior to and during marriage, assets and monetary accounts that a couple does not want to be considered communal, and can even stipulate power of attorney in the event of harm befalling one or both married individuals. If a couple is contemplating having children together, a post-nuptial agreement can also stipulate custody arrangements and other matters pertaining to those children. (However, it should be realized that in family court, the best interests of a child are always given top priority, and all decisions made regarding children are at the discretion of the court.)

Having any type of legal documentation drawn up should best be accomplished with the assistance of an attorney who has experience dealing with such matters. At the Law Offices of Sheryl R. Rentz, our Pennsylvania family law attorneys can assist individuals with a variety of legal matters pertaining to protecting one’s assets, including post-nuptial agreements, pre-marital agreements, and even co-habitation agreements. For more information and a free consultation, please call our offices today at 610-645-0100.

In Hollywood divorce news, Madonna and her husband of seven and a half years, Guy Ritchie, have announced they are beginning divorce proceedings. Madonna’s publicist e-mailed a statement (co-signed by Ritchie’s rep) to the Associated Press on October 15, confirming the news. The joint-statement reads:

“Madonna and Guy Ritchie have agreed to divorce after seven and a half years of marriage, their representatives confirmed today,” Liz Rosenberg, Madonna’s U.S. representative, said in the joint statement to AP. “They have both requested that the media maintain respect for their family at this difficult time. A final settlement has not been agreed upon yet.”

Ritchie and Madonna, who live in London, reportedly want to create a mutual postnuptial agreement before going to court. Their assets include homes in New York, Los Angeles, and London along with a 1,200-acre estate in Wiltshire, England. Their aggregate estate is alleged to be worth about $525 million U.S., with $35 million of that belonging to Ritchie.

Not many divorces require press releases and involve distributing millions of dollars in assets, but it does not make them any less difficult to deal with. Divorce is a devastating, life changing event that should never be entered into lightly. If you or a loved one is facing a divorce in Pennsylvania do not hesitate to contact the Law Offices of Sheryl R. Rentz, PC, even if just for a first free consultation on how you should proceed. Our office is always upfront about potential outcomes and fees. Contact us immediately with any and all of your questions.

A recent article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune discussed the recent surge of postnuptial agreements. These agreements are very similar to a pre-marital agreement, but instead are entered into AFTER a couple has been married. While they are still very rare (only 1 or 2 percent of married couples request postnuptial agreements) the agreements could become more popular in the near future as they become more common in practice. In fact, a 2007 study by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) indicated that 49 percent of the members said they’d seen an increase in postnups in the past five years.

These marital agreements and reconciliation agreements cover much of the same ground that prenuptial agreements do: issues of property division, spousal maintenance or the protection of inheritances for children from previous marriages. The big difference is that they’re entered into during a marriage, sometimes an unhappy marriage, which makes them especially hard to execute.

Postnups can be used in innovative ways that most would not suspect… Some married women use them after stepping out of the workforce to protect their financial future. Parents with special-needs children, or with grown children suddenly down on their luck, can also use a postnup to secure additional child support funds to care for them. A loving spouse might decide to add his wife to share ownership of a family property or item that otherwise would not be hers.

In Pennsylvania, prenuptial and post nuptial agreements are considered the same as any other contract parties may enter into and, therefore, are presumed to be valid and enforceable. If you have any questions regarding pre-marital, co-habitation, or post-marital agreements contact our offices immediately. Sheryl R. Rentz, a Pennsylvania family law attorney, is fully familiar with the particulars of each state’s premarital and co-habitation agreement laws. Contact us for a free evaluation and consultation today.