The excitement of wedding planning and building a future together can make it hard to focus on the particulars of your prenuptial agreement. If you’ve decided to hire a family law attorney to assist in preparing this documentation, you’ll need to consider the details. Here are some commonly overlooked issues that you should consider before you sign on the dotted line.

What to Include in Your Prenuptial Agreement

1. Circumstantial Provisions

Life can change unexpectedly, so it’s important to prepare for many possibilities in your prenuptial agreement. A spouse could become ill, for example, or there could be a significant change in your financial status. One person may have carefully planned for retirement, while the other may have relied on a pension that failed. Calculating what should be allocated to whom takes careful deliberation, but provisions are put in place to ensure that the agreements made will stand no matter what occurs. 

2. Points & Miles Division

Airline miles and credit card points may seem minor in the grand scheme of events, but they’re often important, especially if you’ve spent years carefully accruing them. You may face a problem if you didn’t think to include miles and points in your agreement. Sometimes this is tricky solely because the rewards are under a single spouse’s name, or because one travels or spends more than the other. Determine whether you want to classify the rewards as personal property and divide them evenly, or whether one party will receive all of them. 

3. Rights to Separate Residences

A separate residence typically refers to any property that you owned before the wedding, or that’s inherited or gifted during the marriage. However, if your spouse contributed financially to maintaining the property, then they may be awarded at least a portion of its value if you divorce. Prevent losing your full rights to the residence by including it in your prenuptial agreement.

Planning for every contingency with a prenuptial agreement can be challenging. Locals throughout Rockland and Orange counties, NY, trust the family law attorneys at Brown, Burgoon, & Hartnagel, P.C. for all of their legal needs. Whether you’re drafting an agreement before marriage or are in the process of filing for divorce, count on these compassionate and hard-working professionals to help you reach a satisfying outcome to your situation. Visit the family court attorneys online for information. Call (845) 624-1966 for a consultation.