Oct 31, 2022

Planning to Remarry after A Divorce or Death of your Spouse: What to do?

Future Post-Divorce

No one in the middle of a divorce ever believes that they will remarry, but many do. What is my most heartfelt advice to those people? The parties should sign a Prenuptial Agreement.

Debbie Y. Schneider, Esq., an Attorney at Alpha Center for Divorce Mediation talks plans you should put in place before remarrying.

A prenuptial agreement is particularly important if the parties have their own separate assets and perhaps children from prior relationships. To start, if there are prior divorces, then both parties should review the settlement agreements that they executed at that time, paying particular attention to provisions for life insurance and inheritances. Custody agreements should also be reviewed, taking special note of ongoing financial obligations.

The second step should be the expectation of complete disclosure of all assets and an open conversation about their financials goals, especially with regard to the preservation of assets for the children, regardless of the ages of the children. At the Alpha Center, our process of creating a prenuptial agreement starts with a questionnaire, designed to reveal all the assets and liabilities belonging to the couple. The drafter should also have a long conversation with the parties and ask questions that will guide them to the healthiest result.

Most US states provide for a surviving spouse to automatically be entitled to a share of the deceased spouse’s estate, and without the proper documents, either a prenup and/or an estate plan, someone’s well intentioned plan for their assets to go to the children of their first marriage or marriages can be rendered null and void. We will discuss more about estate planning in my next blog.

Alpha Center for Divorce Mediation
Email: alphacares@alpha-divorce.com
Phone: 1-800-310-9085