When individuals in Pennsylvania marry early in life, they often expect to stay married for decades. Because divorce is not readily on their minds, they might not think about drafting prenuptial agreements. However, drafting a prenuptial agreement may especially be expedient if two people with significant assets are getting married later in life.
In a late-in-life prenuptial agreement, two soon-to-be spouses can explain how they intend to financially support themselves going forward. In addition, they can highlight how they plan to withdraw their retirement assets according to their personal wealth levels. As an example, one person might have a big retirement plan, whereas the other person has a small one. They might agree to use the larger of the plans and just use the smaller plan for taking out small distributions.
The two individuals may also want to explain in their agreement their plans for splitting their property during a possible future divorce proceeding. During a divorce, two spouses do not have to divide their separate property — the property they brought into the marriage, for example. However, they must divide their marital property equitably. In their prenuptial agreement, two people can make sure that both parties would be taken care of financially if they ended up getting divorced, particularly if they have varying levels of wealth going into the marital union.
Drafting a prenuptial agreement at an older age can understandably be overwhelming. This is particularly the case for someone who has accumulated large amounts of wealth over time. Fortunately, a divorce attorney can help him or her to create the most personally beneficial agreement possible in Pennsylvania.
