Helping Clients Enter Into Marital Agreements
A prenuptial agreement — also known as a premarital agreement — allows two people who are planning to get married to define the ownership of their marital property on their own terms. In Arizona, postnuptial agreements among couples who are already married are also valid.
I'm Kyle Scoresby, an experienced divorce and family law attorney. My staff and I at Scoresby Family Law in Scottsdale and Mesa have helped many clients negotiate and draft legally valid prenuptial and postnuptial agreements. Contact us to schedule a consultation to discuss your options.
Protecting Your Assets Before Getting Married
Under Arizona community property law, assets and debts acquired during a marriage by either spouse normally belong to both spouses, no matter whose name they are in. Drafting a prenuptial agreement, however, can override this general rule in certain cases.
If you are interested in negotiating a prenuptial agreement with your fiance, it is important to get a lawyer who understands how to draft these documents so they are legally valid.
It is also important for each party to be represented by an attorney. If you have a lawyer and your fiance does not, it may be easier to invalidate the prenuptial agreement in the future.
Because of the intimate nature of the relationships governed by prenuptial agreements, the courts typically scrutinize the circumstances surrounding these agreements more closely than they would for a normal business or consumer contract.
Making Property Agreements During Your Marriage
Arizona also allows couples who are already married to define at any time what their respective rights to certain property will be by drafting postnuptial agreements.
A postnuptial agreement may be helpful if, for instance, you are starting a new business and your partners need some clarity on ownership. If you are contemplating divorce, a postnuptial agreement may make the eventual process go more smoothly.
Contact me to learn more about prenuptial and postnuptial agreements and how to make sure they are legally valid.
