Prenuptial Agreements - Some Less Traditional Ideas

I think Smith Family Law Center has some interesting ideas its article, Prenuptial Agreements

But this just scratches the surface of what is available for inclusion in prenuptial agreements. Less traditional uses of a prenuptial agreement include:

* establishing how a family business will be formed, capitalized and run during the marriage, and then laying rules for the continuation or dissolution of the business upon the termination of the marriage;
* setting forth the goals that the family will work together toward achieving and the values that they will maintain in good times and bad;
* determining in advance and at a time of no rancor how the family will raise their future children (religious upbringing, forms of discipline, etc.)
* establishing how and under what circumstances the spouses will jointly own and manage property and investments.

The items that can be included in a prenuptial agreement are generally limited only by the imagination of the parties and the skill of the drafter.

Reading over all this, I am struck how some of this seems to verge more into the territory of a marriage contract.  Others leave me wondering how a court will enforce these provisions - but then that will depend on the actual writing (drafting) of the agreement.

Your Legal Corner: Prenuptial agreements has a more restrained approach:

The contents of a premarital agreement may include: disposition of property that is held separately, jointly, upon death, separation, marital dissolution or when a certain stated event occurs. You may also include if a will, a trust or other agreed arrangement should be made in an effort to carry out the terms of the prenuptial agreement. 

As long as it does not violate public policy, it may be written into your prenuptial agreement. Because prenuptial agreements are situation specific, a Family attorney will be able to guide your detailed questions or concerns.

Finally, Smith Family Law Center has what amounts to the best argument for a prenup:

The fact that no consideration except the marriage itself is necessary to formalize a prenuptial agreement makes it attractive to the financial secure, and the fact that it is extremely flexible and forward-looking makes the prenuptial agreement attractive to the rest of us. In the past, when divorce was rare, prenuptial agreements were seen as only appropriate for the super wealthy. Now they can be seen as prudent for nearly everyone

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