Prenuptial Agreements Important Part Of A Pro Athlete’s Financial Plan : Pro Athletes Only

Pro Athletes Only blog has some good points in its Prenuptial Agreements Important Part Of A Pro Athlete’s Financial Plan that apply to more than pro athletes:

"Neither separate bank accounts nor wills accomplish what a well-drafted prenuptial agreement can.

Separate bank accounts identify the person who may use that account. A separate bank account may or may not be marital property. This is a matter of each individual state’s law.

Additionally, income earned during the marriage and deposited in a separate bank account may be considered separate property, community property, or marital property, again depending upon state law. Therefore, at divorce, expensive litigation may be needed to determine the nature of that account and to whom the monies belong.

Wills are also heavily regulated, state to state, and therefore at death, those monies may or may not be part of the deceased spouse’s estate. In many states, a spouse cannot be disinherited. This means that unless there is a prenuptial agreement, the surviving spouse may have a right to a portion of the deceased spouse’s estate, even if the surviving spouse has been intentionally omitted from the Will.