A prenuptial agreement is an agreement that two people make before getting married regarding how they will split up their finances if they end up getting divorced. For example, maybe one person is independently wealthy and they want to ensure that they don’t lose anything that they own. Or perhaps one person is a business owner, and they want to make sure that any business growth during the marriage doesn’t have to be divided in the event of a divorce.
But what if the couple is already married? Say that both people are business owners, they decided to tie the knot, and now they are suddenly realizing that both of their businesses are potentially in jeopardy if their relationship ends. But they are already married, so it’s too late to use a prenuptial agreement. What can they do?
Setting up a postnuptial agreement
One common solution for this is just to use a postnuptial agreement instead. It can be set up the same way, protecting assets, dividing ownership and making financial agreements. Just like a prenup, both people have to agree to it of their own free will, and they need to sign it. But it can be used after the marriage, rather than before.
It is important for business owners to keep in mind that this should only be a financial agreement. It is to protect the business. If they’re planning to have children in the future, the postnuptial agreement cannot specify how parenting time would be divided or anything of this nature. But as long as it just addresses financial considerations, it can be a valid agreement that offers numerous protections for these business owners. This is just one reason why it’s so important for people to know exactly what legal options they have.
