Why Pennsylvania Couples Should Consider a Pre-Marital Agreement

By Sheryl Rentz on May 18, 2011

A pre-marital agreement in Pennsylvania is a contract that clarifies what will happen to certain assets and what each party may or may not receive in the event of a divorce. Although many people shy away from pre-marital agreements; which are often referred to as pre-nuptial agreements or prenups; making such an agreement doesn’t mean you love your partner any less. A recent Huffington Post article offered several reasons why you and your partner or future spouse should consider entering into a Pennsylvania pre-marital agreement, including:

• Getting to know how your spouse handles money. From a business perspective, a marriage is about combining your assets with another person’s – much like partners who go into business together. Just like business partners, you and your partner can learn a great deal about what matters and how you each handle money by talking through money matters you want (or do not want) to cover in a prenup.
• Answering financial questions before they become problems. Financial obligations can put stress on even the strongest marriage, especially if spouses don’t know what they want, need, or expect from one another financially. A pre-nuptial agreement allows both parties an opportunity to clarify their respective rights and obligations, removing a common source of relationship breakdown.
• Making your own property decisions, not the court’s. Each party comes into a relationship with his or her own property. Over time, however, things can get mixed up so much that separating that property during a divorce becomes aggravatingly difficult. A pre-nuptial agreement allows both parties to keep separate property separate on their own terms instead of having to accept how the court chooses to make the split.

If you live in Pennsylvania and are about to be married, entering into a pre-marital agreement may be a smart course of action. To learn more, please don’t hesitate to contact the experienced Philadelphia family law attorneys at The Law Offices of Sheryl R. Rentz. Call 610-645-0100 today.