It was a beautiful weekend in New York City. The weather was perfect and I had the chance to walk around and enjoy the early-summer days. I even ran into a street fair and some folks I had not seen in years. On my wanderings, I poked my head into one of my client’s stores and was surprised to find her there. She told me that she just got back from a vacation and had some stuff to catch up on. Since it’s summer, she has a bunch of clients getting married who need her help. It was quiet, so I ran and grabbed a couple of coffees for us and we sat down and chatted for a while. Wedding invitation season for her is prenup season for me. But we also talked about how weddings and estate planning can also overlap.
Do I Need a Prenup?
If you wonder if you need a prenup, you can do a quick Google search and find millions of answers. It’s especially trendy these days for writers to discuss “millennials” and how their prenups are different (here’s a hint: they’re not). Millennials may want to have a prenup for their pet, but so do a lot of other people. It is becoming more common that people view prenups as an “insurance policy” rather than an offensive document.
So do you need a prenup? As with most things in life, each person’s situation is different. Some general reasons you may want a prenup,
- You run your own business;
- You already own your own property;
- You have lots of debt;
- You have children from a prior relationship; and
- You have other things that you want to ensure stay your separate property.
There could be other reasons for a prenup as well, but those are a few common reasons I see in my clients.
Do I Need a Will?
So as our coffee got consumed, my client wanted to know what the crossover was with estate planning. At a basic level, an estate plan (your will and health care documents) is a natural complement to your prenup. Especially if you have unique provisions in your prenup, it would make sense to also have those provisions in your will.
Another practical reason? When you put together your prenup, you are putting together a full disclosure of your assets. Since you have a summary and list of your assets in front of you, it would also be a good time to think about your will and how you’d like your assets to be distributed. You’re thinking about the issues and can knock off two birds with one stone.
Next Steps
If you are getting married this year and are considering a prenup, or if you’re already married and want to create an estate plan that complements your prenup, call my office to set up a meeting and we can review the best options for you – (877) AMAYERS.
