Things can be complicated enough when getting married to someone with children already. What happens when you toss money into that factor? What happens when you want to protect your child’s inheritance in a second marriage? The answer is simple. Prenuptial agreement. This is necessary when protecting the intended inheritance of a child from a previous marriage.
If a spouse dies before writing a will; this can have very serious financial consequences for children of the first marriage. If the parent wants his or her child to inherit all or part of a retirement account, there must be a written waiver from their spouse in the current marriage. This is absolutely critical in protecting your child’s inheritance. “Hand-shake agreements” are usually only known between the two spouses when discussing plans to give financial priority to your children from a prior marriage. The future representative given to your surviving spouse is probably not aware of the hand-shake agreement and may disregard any prior obligations.
Without any prenuptial agreement the surviving spouse is not obligated to protect the inheritance of the children from the deceased spouse’s prior marriage. It is important for each spouse to disclose to the other and their attorneys all of their assets. This makes things much easier when a married couple wants to enter a postnuptial agreement and so there are both familiar with each other’s incomes.
Even though spouses can have a trusting and loving relationship, a prenuptial agreement can be essential to bind their legal successors without making them feel uncomfortable. Spouses have every right to protect their estate plans and inheritance of their children from a previous marriage.
Voted Long Island’s Best Divorce Lawyer with over 30 years of experience in Divorce, Child Custody, Adoption, Same-sex divorce, Pre- and postnuptial agreements, Father’s rights, Separation agreements, Protection orders and Meditation. To help keep your legal costs at a minimum, call (888) 429-4459
