Prenuptial Agreements. Who's getting one? Who has one?

[Ladylethal 12]

What is the normal procedure in US? Without a prenup, are the assets universal between the couple? Everything earned before and after the marriage should be shared?

[TracyTN 237]

Hi well whats the I-864 Affidavit of Support you may have to pay Alimony. Good Luck

That's a very salient point. How does the prenup cover you if you've already agreed to the terms of the affidavit of support (either at the interview or AOS stage)? If she enters the country and the marriage in good faith, then things break down in the marriage but she does not want to leave the country, you (or your cosponsor, if that is the case) are still obligated to make sure she does not become a public charge. Or does the prenup go a bit further, saying she will not become a public charge, but she is entitled to no more than that?

Sounds like a bit of research would need to be done. You might want to consult an attorney since things aren't quite as straight forward as in a US/US marriage and prenup.

What is the normal procedure in US? Without a prenup, are the assets universal between the couple? Everything earned before and after the marriage should be shared?

This varies widely from state to state, I believe. In the case of my divorce, we had to agree in how to divide the 'marital property'. Despite the fact that I had bought my house before I met my husband, the house was only in my name and we only resided there together for 8 months, he still had to sign a quit claim deed - which essentially meant he gave up his claim to his share of the value of my house - not a huge amount given the short amount of time, but still.

So that is one example of how things can be split, but I'm not sure about earnings and what not. Again, varies from state to state for sure.

[Ladylethal 12]

That would fit the profile of universal share of assets. In Brasil without a prenup if you get a divorce you only share what´s been acquired together after the marriage, so if you had the house before, and you bought it alone, it will be part of your assets alone, not being shared with your spouse.

[ceriserose 1]

That would fit the profile of universal share of assets. In Brasil without a prenup if you get a divorce you only share what´s been acquired together after the marriage, so if you had the house before, and you bought it alone, it will be part of your assets alone, not being shared with your spouse.

There are some states, however, that automatically split things 50-50. In our case we've joked about how the house my husband purchased and still holds sole title to is really half mine, just for moving in (and would legally be so in a divorce). I'm not sure how a pre-nup would affect that but I'm pretty sure that the pre-nup can't negate a law on the books. (Of course, we didn't do a pre-nup nor have any intent to do one, so that information is about as researched as you get! )

My point was merely to show that state law has something to do about how the assets are treated and I would presume a lawyer would set up a pre-nup to reflect the legalities of the state.

Eh, what do I know aboot all this...I'm a Canadian eh.

[charmac7 4]

What we did on the house question....we had a market evaluation done....we agreed to split any profit over and above the that market value of the property should we divorce. therefore he would not lose his initial investment and I would not lose anything I put into it after the marriage.

These agreements are not black and white....I would never have agreed that the house was soley his....as I will be putting time, money etc. into it....nor do I think I should reap any rewards for the initial investment, time and money that he put into it before we were married.

We also agreed that until I was in the US...that Canadian divorce laws would apply and once I was in the US then US divorce laws would apply.

both of us have been through nasty divorces and although pre-nups are an unromantic subject - we both felt it was something that needed to be discussed and we both wanted to protect ourselves, each other and our children through our previous marriages.

Pre-nups should be used to protect both spouses and it is alot easier dealing with the issues now than trying to deal with them should the marriage not work out.

Char

Edited April 7, 2006 by charmac7

[rebeccajo 14]

Oooooooooooooooooooo.....threads like this make me soooooo nervous!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE see an attorney, Matt. In your state. DON'T use an online pre-nup. DON'T use an attorney from Saigon.

If you divorce you will be subject to the laws in the State you FILE in. You can marry in one state and divorce in another.

As for the Affidavit of Support, just try telling USCIS that a pre-nuptial voids it. NOT. Federal law supercedes state law. Period.

[babybunny 2]

I hate this topic. I guess a pre nup is no diffrent from my islamic

marriage contract. oh its soo bad to talk about the end instead of the beginning.