prenuptial agreement

[LP]

... in response to Re: Jeez is right..., posted by Rags on Jan 3, 2002

..Lemme get this straight.

You have 15 years of failed marriage(s!)behind you and yet you claim a belief of not needing a prenup if one "makes sure of the person your marrying"?!? Say what??

*Thats* your excuse? You have multiple failed marriages and from those experiences you've now concluded you're "sure" that this one will work? Weren't you just as sure about the others?

I don't get it. If I was you, I wouldn't be bragging about this kind of "logic". Actualy, it *does* sound like the "reasoning" of a drunken man. lol, you be a funny guy!

Btw, I'm gettin plenty. And without the hassle, risks, expense, and travel to another country to find it. All the benefits, with none of the problems.

Who's closer to 100%?

[Tim Collins 333]

... in response to prenuptial agreement, posted by russian2000 on Jan 1, 2002

Hello Russian2000.   These women had better be sure that their fiancee lives in a community property state or they will get NOTHING if he owned the assets before.   Except the house. An attorney told me that even if you owned a house outright, it IS possible for the man to lose up to 1/2 of the house as it COULD be sold and the proceeds divided. Normally he stated that many men just rent for their ex an apartment or the judge deems this and some alimony and he keeps the house.  Of course judges rulings are as numerous and varied as the stars and every case can and will no doubtedly be different too.    tim

[WilliamF]

... in response to Re: prenuptial agreement, posted by Tim Collins 333 on Jan 1, 2002

Some confusion here. You infer that the husband's pre-marraige property becomes community property after marraige in a community property state. This is not the case. Pre-marraige property does NOT convert to community property - it remains the husband's seperate property.

[Tim Collins 333]

... in response to Re: Re: prenuptial agreement, posted by WilliamF on Jan 2, 2002

Exactly.   I forgot to put the "non" in front of the "community."  Thanks for noticing!!  I live in Oregon...........squeezed between two community property states, Washington and California.   I did not do this by design of course, I realized this AFTER I was engaged. After mulling it over, I decided not to acquire a pre-nup as it seems to me as if it is like bringing a bodybag to a wedding. Personally, I have never heard of a pre-nup working in these type of relationships and I do not want to convey a feeling of mistrust to her when she is preparing for the interview.         tim

[Richard]

... in response to Re: prenuptial agreement, posted by Tim Collins 333 on Jan 1, 2002

That's not quite right - at least in my understanding.

As I understand it there are / were (my information is 6 years old) situations.

One is community property: all assets of both spouses are put into one pool (community property) and split evenly.

The other, and most common, is equitable distribution.  In this situation, each spouse retains the value of what they owned, *at the time of the marriage* and split any appreciation in the value of the of assets owned before the marriage as well as any joint (vs. community) property that they have acquired since the marriage.  (For example if the American partner owns a house before the marriage, the increased value of the house after the marriage is considered joint property and split by the spouses in the event of a divorce.)  Joint property is split *equitably* not 50 50.  For example, if one spouse is unable to work and support his/herself this spouse would receive more of the joint assets than the other spouse.  The split could potentially be 80% for the non working spouse vs. 20% for the other spouse.

One thing that should be noted is that if you ever live in a community property state, your separate property converts to community property and remains community property even though you later move to an equitable distribution state.

The last category is what is known as a title state: the property belongs to whomever is on the title.  Last I heard, Mississippi was the only remaining title state, but that may have changed.

Disclaimers:

1) I am not a lawyer.

2) My knowledge comes from discussions with lawyers in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Hence, this may not be correct elsewhere.  (For example, the Florida Homestead Act needs to be taken in consideration by those of us who live in Florida.)

3) My knowledge is from the early to mid 90's.

[Rags]

... in response to Re: Re: prenuptial agreement, posted by Richard on Jan 1, 2002

They will tell you whatever sounds good or what you want to hear.

My last divorce was in CA (a community property state) and everything that I had before my marriage was mine. Only items purchased after the marriage were common property. The same goes for retirement, savings, investments, etc.

BTW, do you know how to tell when a lawyer is lying? Their lips move.

[Richard]

... in response to Don't trust lawyers Richard, posted by Rags on Jan 3, 2002

I'm glad to hear that I was wrong about your premarital property.