How To Get a Prenuptial Agreement in Missouri
Getting ready to commit to another person for the rest of your life involves spiritual, emotional and pragmatic concerns. One of the major practical issues you need to discuss with your future partner is your approach to financial matters. A prenuptial agreement puts in writing the decisions you make together about personal and marital property.
How Prenuptial Agreements Work
A premarital agreement is designed to honor the wishes of you and your partner concerning your assets and liabilities. Without such a document, your property can be divided up according to state law in the event of a divorce, regardless of what either of you actually wants to happen. Signing a prenup demonstrates to the other person that you commit to protecting each other even if you do not ultimately end up together. Your agreement may address a variety of issues:
- Management of premarital assets or debt
- Distribution of trusts, gifts and inheritance
- Allocation of alimony or death benefits
- Division of marital property
Steps for Getting a Prenup in Missouri
For a prenup to be valid, each person must enter into it freely and voluntarily, and the terms of the agreement must be conscionable. Enforcement of prenuptial agreements in Missouri is not covered by the Uniform Prenuptial Agreement Act as it is in other states. It is especially important, therefore, that your prenup is written, reviewed, corrected and signed long before you say \"I do.\"
Step 1: Writing the Document
Several months before you get married, consult an attorney who specializes in marital law to draft your premarital agreement. Before you arrive for the consultation, you and your partner need to collect information regarding your assets and debt, including both itemized and total value. Full disclosure of this information on both sides is crucial to ensure the agreement is enforceable.
Step 2: Reviewing the Agreement
While one attorney can handle drafting the prenuptial agreement, it's a good idea for the other partner to have a different lawyer review it to ensure it takes his or her best interests into account. This process also helps you identify any questionable terms that could be deemed unconscionable by the courts (thus nullifying the agreement). It may be tempting to skip this step, but being able to show that both parties had separate legal counsel to advise and protect them increases the chances that the agreement will not be overridden in the future.
Step 3: Applying Necessary Corrections
If the review process reveals any concerns, discuss the terms openly until you can arrive at a reasonable agreement. The benefit of giving yourselves a few months to make sure you get the document just right before you sign it is that you have time to make changes without either of you feeling rushed into a decision.
Step 4: Signing the Prenup
In order for the premarital agreement to be legally binding, it must be signed before your wedding day by both parties. It's actually a good idea to sign it weeks before the day arrives to eliminate any appearance that either person was pressured into doing so. In Missouri, the agreement must also be signed by a notary or some other witness to be valid.
Conclusion
Concerns about what happens if your relationship doesn't work out may be the furthest thing from your mind when planning your wedding. Additionally, writing and finalizing a prenuptial agreement can seem complicated. With the help of an experienced attorney, however, you can be confident that you are going into your marriage with the knowledge that you and your partner are on the same page when it comes to personal and marital assets.