Can anyone share experience setting up a pre-nuptial ?

[Completely 3]

Hi everyone,

I understand that we'll need a lawyer to set up a pre-nup, but I wonder if any of you have experience and (free!) advice?

1/ How long does it take and how much does it cost?

2/ Does it reflect in any way on the immigration process? Eg., if they ask during the interview whether we have one or not, and we say yes, does that sound fishy or not?

3/ We both have close to nothing right now, so we're not worried about that. But one of us will be making big college debts in the next couple of years, and we're wondering if there's a way to set up a pre-nup so that the other person can't be held responsible for these debts. Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks so much!

Best luck to everyone,

Kevin

I would say here is the prons and cons..

Pros and Cons: Premarital Agreements ("Prenuptials")

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PROS

A premarital agreement can protect the inheritance rights of children and grandchildren from a previous marriage.

If you have your own business or professional practice, a premarital agreement can protect that interest so that the business or practice is not divided and subject to the control or involvement of your former spouse upon divorce.

If one spouse has significantly more debt than the other, a premarital agreement can protect the debt-free spouse from having to assume the obligations of the other.

If you plan to give up a lucrative career after the marriage, a premarital agreement can ensure that you will be compensated for that sacrifice if the marriage does not last.

A premarital agreement can address more than the financial aspects of marriage, and can cover any of the details of decision-making and responsibility sharing to which the parties agree in advance.

A premarital agreement can limit the amount of spousal support that one spouse will have to pay the other upon divorce.

A premarital agreement can protect the financial interests of older persons, persons who are entering into second or subsequent marriages, and persons with substantial wealth.

CONS

The agreement may require you to give up your right to inherit from your spouse's estate when he or she dies. Under the law, you are entitled to a portion of the estate even if your spouse does not include such a provision in his or her will.

If you contribute to the continuing success and growth of your spouse's business or professional practice by entertaining clients and taking care of the home, etc., thus allowing him or her to focus on professional endeavors, you may not be entitled to claim a share of the increase in value if you agree otherwise in a premarital agreement. Under the laws of many states, this increase in value would be considered divisible marital property.

Starting a relationship with a contract that sets forth the particulars of what will happen upon death or divorce can engender a sense of lack of trust.

As mentioned above, a contract can take the wind out of your emotional sails.

It can be difficult to project into the future about how potential issues should be handled, and what may seem like an inconsequential compromise in the romantic premarital period may seem more monumental and burdensome in reality.

A low- or non-wage-earning spouse may not be able to sustain the lifestyle to which he or she has become accustomed during the marriage if the agreement substantially limits the amount of spousal support to which that spouse is entitled.

In the "honeymoon" stage of a relationship, one spouse may agree to terms that are not in his or her best interests because he or she is "too in love" to be concerned about the financial aspects and can't imagine the union coming to an untimely end.

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[panterchen 1]

Hey everybody,

we were also thinking about a pre-nup agreement because my family owns substantial funds (and they were scared that he could get anything even if we divorce, German law) but refrained from it, however, as we feel we anticipate divorce up from the start. And that's just not how it should be for us.

Since we are both just out of college we do not have a whole lot of assets. The only thing on his side is a 60,000$ student loan which we both will be working on paying back in the future. For that we are planning on getting a life insurance for my soon-to-be husband with about the same amount so that in case he dies I am not left with a huge debt all alone. Plus his dad signed for the loans as a co-sponsor before our marriage so actually he should be held liable if my hubby dies. But you never know... In the upcoming years we might have to take out some more small amounts of loans and this would then be covered as well. WE felt I should better be on the safe side than sorry later on. And, of course, he would also be the beneficiary of my life insurance which, however, is a smaller amount of money.