k1 VISA Route to marriage and prenuptial agreements, costs, DIY,& and timing

[Chancy 6,241]

57 minutes ago, J+J said:

This is exactly our question as a couple considering a prenup for a K-1.  Can it even be considered reliable to stand up in court considering the circumstances of a K-1 visa in the first place?  

 

@Paul & Mary did a prenup, but they did CR1, not K1.  Tagging here in the hope that he has advice for you.

 

 

[Just Paul 4,595]

Not DYI and needs to be well thought out,

 

Yes we did a prenup - in two parts.   The first was completed in the Philippines a month before we were married.  Used a local lawyer there referred from a business attorney I've used. Pretty much only valid in the Philippines ($1000). , , but she is still a citizen there.

 

Then we had a post nuptial done in the US.  2 separate lawyers and a ton of disclosures. She needs to be fully aware of ALL of your financial circumstances.    And it gets very tricky when you live in a community property state and she has no (work) skills or assets to bring to marriage.  (about $6,000 as I recall)  . . . Now I am not wealthy (according to the Obama Tax Era) but have business partners that need to be "protected" including in other countries and, at that time a son in school, etc.   Nuts and bolts of it is that the business interests that existed before the marriage are sole and separate property, I added her to some personal real estate property, a portion of her earnings are set aside in her own account and anything else we do since we came to the US is based on community property unless agreed to in advance.   She financed a car earlier this year and it is in her name and she has some of her own credit.   Now all of that being said and done I did receive a large distribution from a sale of one of our companies and I paid off her car for christmas  

 

[Ed&Midori1031 330]

On 12/12/2020 at 12:42 PM, Mike E said:

We did the prenup after she arrived in the USA.  And used lawyers from the state where we later married and lived.  
 

prenups are not DIY things.  In most cases, if the lower earning / lesser rich party signs a prenup without legal representation, the prenup can be tossed by a divorce court.  

Very smart 

[elkski 28]

On 12/12/2020 at 4:31 PM, laylalex said:

Yes, in general what you bring to a marriage is your separate property, and in general what you acquire/earn during the marriage is community property. But if you want to deviate from that, you need to know how to structure the language to make sure it accurately reflects what you want. You need to make a full and fair disclosure of all your assets and liabilities (this came back to bite my ex on his rear end, big time, and my divorce not only took longer, I ended up with considerably more than anticipated -- the judge was NOT impressed).

yes this needs to be immortal.

 

I got more than I thought but you didn't say you gave it back?   The risks of bringing a nice woman to the judges and  laws of USA

[laylalex 7,284]

2 minutes ago, elkski said:

yes this needs to be immortal.

 

I got more than I thought but you didn't say you gave it back?   The risks of bringing a nice woman to the judges and  laws of USA

I AM the American. My ex hid assets from me when we were doing the prenup at the urging of his father. He could have disclosed everything up front and he could have avoided the trouble he made for himself. He's doing just fine, don't worry about him. 

 

I have a prenup with my second husband. He and I agreed to keep most of our finances separate. I disclosed everything to him and he to me, and we just prepared a I-944 to do AOS so we're telling the government too what we have. We know exactly what the other has, and unlike in my first marriage, we are both perfectly capable of maintaining ourselves were we to divorce. Neither of us are entitled to support if we do. This is fair. My other prenup looked fair, except it was not complete. Actions have consequences.

[Mike E 11,739]

On 12/12/2020 at 1:41 PM, elkski said:

but if a person quits a job and leaves her accommodations and moves to USA and has 90 days to get married I think any good lawyer can get that prenup tossed out as being signed under duress.

Well if you think prenups for K-1s are useless, you don't have to have one.

 

On 12/12/2020 at 1:41 PM, elkski said:

Legal smeagle.. it really shouldn't be that hard to draft a document that lists all the assets and plans in case. 

Everything I've read says you wrong, but given VJ is based toward a DIY method for legal issues, I am not surprised by your view. At the very least, both parties should sign a waiver.