Continued from page 3

Should you be concerned that your spouse-to-be might share some of this information with friends or family, you could ask your lawyer to have a confidentiality agreement in place before handing over your financial disclosure statement. A confidentiality agreement can provide that your spouse-to-be may only share your financial disclosure statement with certain people, such as his or her lawyer and accountant.

If you fail to provide your spouse-to-be with complete financial disclosure, a court could later invalidate your prenuptial agreement.

Rule #4: Do not force your spouse-to-be to enter into a prenuptial agreement

Your prenuptial agreement will only stand up in court if you and your spouse-to-be both enter into the agreement voluntarily and with a full understanding of the consequences of the agreement. If you coerce your soon-to-be spouse into signing a prenup, you will likely end up with an unenforceable prenuptial agreement and a very unhappy spouse-to-be. Putting unacceptable pressure to enter into a prenup by emotionally or physically abusing your spouse-to-be until he or she breaks down and signs the agreement allows the court to throw out the agreement. Refusing to marry your loved one without a prenuptial agreement in place, however, is perfectly acceptable behavior.

previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 next