Owensboro Marital Agreement Lawyers

Reputable Legal Advocates Protecting Your Spousal Rights

Marital agreements are important tools for protecting a marriage, as both prenuptial and postnuptial agreements allow spouses to set forth terms about asset division and protection. It is advisable to consult an experienced marital agreement attorney to ensure your rights and interests are being addressed (and protected) by the legal contract. Our team at Bamberger & Brancato, PSC have a breadth of professional experience navigating Kentucky’s family law system. In fact, Attorney Ronald J. Bamberger has been practicing for 50 years, and Attorney Frank A. Brancato has been practicing law for 40 years. They bring significant knowledge and skill to the firm and have a great reputation among the legal community. As a result, you can trust that they will guide you effectively through the marital agreement process, from drafting to signing to even modifying.

What Does a Prenuptial Agreement Do?

A prenuptial agreement, also called a premarital or antenuptial agreement in Kentucky, is a legal contract signed by prospective spouses prior to marriage that determines how the couple's assets and debts will divided in the case of divorce or death. Note that while they are signed before marriage, prenuptials become valid only after the couple is legally married.

A prenuptial can help to provide spouses with more certainty and security about their financial situation, as they can address terms to protect a business, property, or other asset owned prior to marriage. In situations when a potential spouse has children from a previous relationship, they may choose to sign a prenup to protect their children’s right to inherit the property brought to the new relationship. Most commonly, couples will want to establish in a prenup that both spouses are entitled to a share of property gained during the marriage, particularly if one spouse remains in the household as a homemaker for the children while the other spouse works.

Kentucky prenuptial agreements may also establish:

• each spouse's rights to use, sell, buy, transfer, or otherwise deal with property owned by either spouse or the couple jointly;
• what happens to each spouse's retirement or pension benefits upon divorce or death of a spouse;
• whether a spouse receives alimony upon divorce and the amount and duration; and
• whether the terms of the agreement take effect upon divorce, death, or both.

Note that prenuptial agreements cannot determine issues of child custody or child support, as these arrangements are determined by the court based on the child’s best interests.