Prenuptial Agreement in Columbia, South Carolina
A prenuptial agreement commonly known as a “prenup” is an agreement between a couple about to be married that is used to set out the financial terms that will govern their marital estate including property, debts, income, supporting children, business ownership and payment of future expenses should they divorce. The Columbia Prenuptial Agreement Lawyers at the Strom Law Firm can guide you through the process.
A South Carolina Prenuptial agreement allow both parties to protect the separate individual property they bring into a marriage. Otherwise, if one party owns an asset now and sells it after marriage, the cash may become joint marital property. In addition, a prenup agreement allows both spouses to legally protect themselves from the other’s debts – those incurred before the marriage and those incurred during the marriage. And it may allow them to determine what level of support one of them will provide to the other if they divorce or if one of them dies.
When do you need to consult with a Columbia Prenup Agreement Lawyer?
South Carolina couples may seek a prenuptial agreement for any number of reasons, but the most common are concerns about finances, supporting children, planning for the future and ensuring the wishes laid out in your estate plan can be honored.
You should consider a prenuptial agreement if any of the following applies:
- You own your own business or are involved in a family business.
- You have high value assets that you want to keep separate.
- You are giving up a successful career to get married.
- You are concerned about the amount of debt of the other party.
- Provide for children either spouse has from a previous relationship.
- Specify which spouse is responsible for which financial items during the marriage from managing separate businesses to who will prepare the SC tax returns.
- Distinguish between property owned separately by each spouse, and property owned jointly by both spouses in the marital estate.
- Provide a clean breakup of the marriage, which allows for privacy.
- Preserve both time and money that would otherwise be spent litigating issues in a South Carolina Family court.
- Mediation
However, a prenuptial agreement cannot:
- Waive either spouse’s right to alimony in the event of a divorce.
- Require either spouse (or any other party) to do something prohibited by law.
- Pre-determine issues of child custody or child support.
Because part or all of a South Carolina prenuptial agreement may be found void if it contains prohibited material, it is important to work with a Columbia Prenup Attorney who can ensure your prenuptial agreement both follow the law and is more likely to be upheld by a SC Family court.
Same-sex couples should also consider consulting one of our Columbia Prenuptial Agreement Lawyers
What a South Carolina Prenuptial Agreement Should Include:
There are certain essentials to creating a valid South Carolina prenuptial agreement:
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- The Prenuptial agreement must be in writing and executed before the marriage.
- The prenup agreement must be fair and reasonable under the law and based on full disclosure by both parties of all assets and liabilities.
- One lawyer cannot fairly represent both parties entering int marriage. Each party to the prenuptial agreement should have an experienced independent attorney to prepare and review the documents and answer all questions before signing.
The Strom Law Firm can represent either spouse wishing to obtain a prenuptial agreement, including the party with assets, the spouse without assets, or when both parties have high net worth assets. We work closely with our clients to understand their concerns and their goals. We then represent our client’s interests during negotiation, using our legal knowledge and training to protect their interests.
The firm can offer flat fees on premarital agreements, which is based on the amount of assets that are being protected.
