Tip of the Week: Prenuptual Relief (9/13/99)

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	Prenuptual Relief Financial Tip of the Week by Deloitte & Touche OnLine September 13, 1999

Agreements don't prevent all divorce woes.

See our archive of previous tips on your money, your taxes and your financial plan.

Divorce is common in the United States. For every two couples that married in 1997, one divorced. Divorce affects more than 3 million husbands, wives and children every year. That’s nearly the same number of people that are born annually.

Prenuptial agreements aren’t a panacea, say Deloitte & Touche financial planners. While these may not be very romantic, many of the 2.4 million couples that split up in 1997, might have been prudent to have them. Prenuptial agreements basically spell out the assets the individual parties are bringing into a marriage. For that reason they’re an excellent idea for individuals who have acquired a significant amount of wealth prior to the marriage or for those who have children from a previous marriage and want to safeguard their assets.

That said, prenuptials are anything but foolproof. Marriage tends to co-mingle assets, muddying the water between his, hers and theirs. For example, if a person sells part of his $1 million stock portfolio to make a down payment on a home that the couple then inhabits for a decade, dissecting ownership can be difficult.