Archive for the ‘Premarital agreement’ CategoryWhat Is Forbidden in a California Premarital Agreement?Friday, August 19th, 2011The Implosion of the “Governator’s” Marriage: In May of 2011 former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver, announced they were separating. According to a recent CNN article, the cause of their rift was a child fathered by Schwarzenegger as a result of an affair he had with a member of his household staff nearly 13 years earlier. (more…)
Prenuptial and Co-Habitation Agreements in CaliforniaWednesday, December 22nd, 2010It was recently reported that actress Eva Longoria filed for divorce from her husband, NBA star Tony Parker, after allegations of infidelity on Parker’s part. Because the couple entered into a prenuptial agreement before their marriage, the agreement will determine how their assets are divided and whether any spousal support must be paid. California is a community property state. This means that property acquired during a marriage belongs equally to both spouses. However, couples can modify their property rights by contractual agreement. Prenuptial, or premarital, agreements allow couples to decide how property will be divided and/or spousal support paid should the marriage end. These agreements must be carefully drafted and comply with specific requirements in order to be enforceable. (more…)
Challenging a Prenuptial AgreementFriday, August 20th, 2010One would think that the spouses with assets worth millions of dollars would have entered into an iron-clad prenuptial agreement for dividing those assets if there was ever a divorce. However, even seemingly iron-clad agreements are often challenged in California divorce cases involving well-to-do spouses. Grounds for Challenging a Prenuptial Agreement The method for challenging a prenuptial is to demonstrate that it is defective in some manner and therefore should not be enforced. This is never an easy undertaking, because much of the evidence will be disputed testimony about what each spouse said or did, or did not say or do – facts that are very difficult to establish without other supporting evidence. The dispute typically centers on whether the prenuptial agreement was revoked, amended, or invalid from the start because it was entered into as a result of fraud or duress. (more…)
Career Building During Marriage: Getting Education Costs Back In a California DivorceFriday, May 14th, 2010Let’s say that a husband works full-time to support his wife while she goes to medical school. The couple’s joint money is used to pay for the wife’s medical school, but not long after the wife becomes a doctor, the two decide to divorce. Since the money used to pay for the wife’s education was community property (usually property is “community” if it was earned while married), should the wife pay this money back to the community estate upon divorce? Many married couples in California have spent a lot of money on one spouse’s education. Despite the steep price of an education, many couples feel it’s worth the cost because of the potential financial benefits they’ll both share down the road. But what if there’s a divorce? (more…)
It’s Not Too Late: The Postnuptial (or Marital) Agreement in CaliforniaThursday, December 10th, 2009The postnup hasn’t been in the spotlight nearly as much as its well known counterpart-the prenuptial agreement-but both agreements carry many of the same goals for California couples. A postnup is a financial agreement created after getting married, as opposed to a prenuptial or premarital agreement that can only be entered into prior to exchanging vows. A postnup, also called a marital agreement, is used to plan how the property you and your spouse own together or separately will be divided and distributed if there’s a separation, divorce, or death. For some, a marital agreement can be created to address financial issues that are troubling a marriage. On this point, a CNN article by Robert DiGiacomo, “Quit Fighting – Get a Postnuptial Agreement,” relates the story of a couple that had been married for 30 years but often fought over money. They decided to get a postnuptial agreement, and although it didn’t solve all their problems, the two were able to ease tensions and “breathe easier” once they got a marital agreement. While there’s no assurance that a marital agreement will help break an impasse for other marriages, for some, a postnup allows the couple to work on other issues once financial questions are resolved. (more…)
Is it Yours, Mine, or Ours? Getting Married in California and Meeting Your GoalsMonday, July 13th, 2009If you’re getting married, then you should think about how California’s community property rules will affect you, and whether there’s a better way for you to promote your financial goals. You may have heard that after seven years together, Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart confirmed they’re getting married, and I can’t help but wonder-will there be a prenup? Thinking back to another famous Hollywood marriage, the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes prenuptial agreement reportedly provides Holmes from between $3 to $33 million per year, according to MSNBC. (more…)
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