Should I Have A Prenuptial Agreement Before We Get Married?

Well, that's a good question! Only you can decide whether or not this will work for your particular circumstances.

Robert is engaged to Janet. They're planning on getting married in a few months. Janet has several pieces of property, numerous investment accounts and is worth millions of dollars. She's been dating Robert for almost five years prior to his proposal of marriage. She's decided that she wants a prenuptial agreement prior to marrying Robert, but, is unsure how to tell him. Janet doesn't want to hurt Robert's feelings, but she knows that she should protect herself prior to marriage.

Ginger and William are getting married early next year. They've been dating for six months. William owns several businesses, properties and other investments. His net worth is two billion dollars.

He loves Ginger with all his heart and trusts her. William has told his attorney to start working on preparing a prenuptial agreement for him and Ginger. He has been trying to figure out how he's going to tell Ginger about the prenup without upsetting her.

You say that you have assets such as property, retirement ,savings, and other investments that you would like to protect. You don't want your assets to be part of the marital pie. You trust your future spouse but still want to protect the assets your have acquired before the marriage.

You're just not sure how to discuss this subject with your future spouse without possibly offending them. Here are five tips on what you may want to tell your future spouse:

1. Your accountant is recommending that you keep your assets before the marriage separate. Blame it on your accountant!

2. If you have children from a prior relationship, you may want your children to have the assets you acquired before the marriage.

3. You just want to protect your assets prior to the marriage in case of future problems with the marriage.

4. Your assets before the marriage may be for a relative or beneficiary that you want to benefit from your assets.

5. You simply want the both of you to start fresh and develop your assets together as a newly married couple.

Don't let the issue of a prenuptial agreement be a deflator to your relationship and create a level of distrust. Explain in detail to your future spouse the reason you would like a prenuptial agreement and everything between the two of you will probably work out in the end just fine.

If you decide that you want a prenuptial agreement with your future spouse, make sure you ease into discussing this subject. You know your future spouse's feelings and emotions better than anyone else! You may even suggest that you both have a prenuptial agreement.