Couples usually don’t enter a marriage with the intention of getting divorced, yet approximately 50% of those who tie the knot will split someday. How do you protect yourself if you enter a marriage in Louisiana with considerable personal assets?
What is a revocable trust?
Revocable trusts are legal documents where you can place your assets for safekeeping while you are alive. You can put many different types of assets in a revocable trust, including vehicles, real estate, investments and the like. Under family law, property that you place in trust before your marriage belongs to the trust, not you, and is separate from property accumulated during the marriage.
The advantages of a prenuptial agreement
Prenuptial agreements are legal contracts between two people who plan to get married. These documents name individual and joint assets and outline property that should remain outside a divorce settlement. Prenuptial agreements must be voluntary. A significant way that prenuptial agreements differ from revocable trusts is that they detail financial agreements if a divorce occurs.
Can I have a prenuptial and a revocable trust?
Each marriage and family situation is unique, so drafting both types of protections may be a good idea. A revocable trust offers protections that go beyond marriage. For example, the trust protects assets from creditors, so you won’t lose those assets because of financial problems. Another advantage of maintaining a revocable trust for your property is that they have virtually no loopholes, whereas many attorneys can find loopholes in a prenuptial agreement during divorce negotiations.
However, having a prenuptial can potentially shorten the negotiation process if you eventually get divorced. Outlining a post-divorce financial agreement can be the basis for that part of your negotiations, allowing you and your spouse to stay out of court as much as possible.
