Premarital Moves
When starting a life together, there are so many fun things to do: getting engaged, planning your wedding, celebrating with family and friends. Not many people are thinking about the legal aspects of promising to be with someone else outside of their marriage license you get from the state you are getting married in. There are several documents that I recommend to my clients when they are tying the knot: a premarital agreement, known more colloquially as a “prenup”, medical power of attorneys/advance healthcare directives, and other estate planning documents, like wills and trusts. Confused about why I am talking about estate planning when you are beginning your brand new life? Hear me out.
One of the questions I get frequently is, “Why do I need a prenup?” It is something that I usually answer with another question: “Why do you need flood insurance or fire insurance on your house? Why do you need collision insurance on your vehicle?” The reasoning is that no one wants bad things to happen. No one (mostly) gets married with the idea that this is a temporary set up and that there will be an inevitable divorce. These documents protect you and your family in case the worst happens. No one wants to think about it, but I promise that you will want to think about it less if something bad occurs and you are stuck not knowing your partner’s wishes, or them not knowing what you want. Also, practically speaking, tough situations bring out the worst in people. I see it quite literally every day. While I am honored to be able to walk my clients through some of the hardest things they may ever have to face, I know that the people I am helping are dealing with serious problems, and I don’t take it personally when they lash out at the safest thing: me. (Mostly; I don’t love it when people yell at me for protecting them, but I get it.)
Planning these things now makes sure that if something does happen, you are covered. There is a document for that: telling you what to do, who to call, what choices to make. It’s security, one of the best wedding gifts you could ever receive. It also allows you and your partner to go ahead and know each other’s wishes and desires for the hard times. I have clients weekly that look at each other in surprise because in planning out their premarital agreement or advanced healthcare directive, they learn that what they thought was the case wasn’t true at all. One couple assumed that the other thought exactly the same way they did - not exactly. One partner wanted to be taken off life support quickly, to donate their organs, and to be cremated. The other partner wanted to be kept on life support as long as possible, to not donate any organs, and to be buried. Everyone was surprised, even me. With regards to wills and trusts, these have benefits beyond just making sure your new family is taken care of. A trust can set up your family’s financial plan (along with a trusted financial advisor) going forward, making sure that the money and assets you earn is utilized most efficiently to create wealth for your future family.
Newton Law PLLC is starting to put together packages that include basic premarital agreements, advance healthcare directives, wills, and/or trusts in any mix you like. Offering a low set price for each package allows families to have peace of mind about their choices and their assets going forward, and not worrying about what if. As always, free consultations allow you to determine what it is that your family needs, and how you can best save money during what can be an expensive time in your lives. Not to mention, you can tell your spouse for years to come, “Hey, you can’t cheer for “X” team, that is in our prenup.” I may be speaking from personal experience on that one.
