A marriage agreement (Prenup) can be much more than a contract that defines the distribution of assets when you divorce. Prenups can be useful planning tools to help your family avoid conflict on the street. Spouses can also execute a post-uptial agreement after they get married. If you are considering designing a marriage contract or a post-ascending agreement, you should know a few things here: engaged couples have the option of making a marriage pact. A marital or pre-marital contract is a contract between two parties before the marriage that becomes enforceable with the marriage. These contracts generally relate to estate matters in the event of a divorce or the death of a spouse. A marriage contract is an agreement on the rights and obligations of two parties in the context of a marriage. They may be performed before the marriage (“preliminary contract”) or after the marriage (“post-uptial arrangement”). Marriage contracts can be used for all persons who are or will be married, while cohabiting can be used for people who live together but are not married and/or who are in registered national unions.

For the purposes of this FAQ, we refer only to marital agreements and we may use short-lived examples that the parties call husband and wife. A final pitfall is when local real estate funds are used to improve, increase or pay a separate real estate value. Take back the fact that the woman before the wedding has her own condo, burdened by a mortgage. If the parties pay mortgages for this separate residence with municipal real estate funds, the result in some states will be that all or part of that residence is considered joint property because of the contributions of both spouses. In other states, the residence is still treated as separate property from the wife, but the husband is entitled to pay the value of his mortgage contributions on that dwelling. The Courts in Washington note: “In general, a marital or marital contract is more likely to be imposed by a court if the contract is fair and both spouses are honest and clear about their finances, including salary, other income, property and property and debts. Sometimes a couple will not follow the agreement while they are married, making the agreement unenforceable. One of the objectives of a marriage agreement may be to define more clearly how goods should be distributed, so that both parties know in advance what the rules will be. However, as I will explain later, there may also be a disadvantage in establishing stricter allocation rules that limit the Tribunal`s discretion. Be sure to discuss both the pros and cons of a marriage or post-uptiale agreement with your Seattle lawyer. Integrative family law can help you understand the requirements of an enforceable marriage agreement in Washington State.