As societal standards shift, more and more women in North Carolina are taking on the role of breadwinner for their families. Many women assume the role of the higher earner before marriage, bringing with them retirement savings, bank accounts and other valuable assets. Protecting these assets is an important step for women who want to ensure their future financial security. This is often best accomplished with a prenuptial agreement. Here are a few key things to keep in mind when creating a prenup.
Women who outearn their soon to be spouses understandably want to protect their own interests, but should not do so at the expenses of their partners. For example, a judge might choose to throw out a prenuptial agreement that has unreasonable provisions or outcomes, such as leaving one spouse with virtually nothing. It is also unlikely for a judge to enforce a prenuptial in which a breadwinning wife states that she will not pay child support or that otherwise addresses specific custody plans. Unreasonable provisions regarding things like weight gain may also invalidate a prenup.
One of the reasons that prenuptial agreements are so helpful is that they provide both parties with a full understanding of one another’s finances. But what happens if either party withholds certain financial information such as important assets or debts, or even provides fraudulent information? In this situation, the other party does not have the opportunity to make an intelligent and fully informed decision regarding finances, and a judge may decide that the prenup is unenforceable.
Of course dealing with any type of legal document can be difficult, and it is not uncommon for people to make mistakes. Unfortunately, even minor mistakes can have unintended consequences. To avoid doing something that may invalidate a prenuptial agreement, some people in North Carolina choose to speak with an attorney before signing.
