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Postnuptial Agreements in Texas Family Law

Earlier this week, the attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC, posted a blog related to premarital agreements. It covered what they were and how they can impact a marriage. Today we will shift gears to discuss postnuptial arrangements, the lesser-known cousin of a prenuptial agreement.

Postnuptial agreements in accordance with the Texas Family Code require drafting and agreeing to them while ensuring compliance with any relevant state laws. If you and your spouse agree on any matter that is outside of the law, then you risk a judge declaring at least that section unenforceable and void.

You and your spouse must ensure that the terminology used in your agreements is coherent and complies with our Family Code. Therefore, having experienced representatives on your side during a negotiation process can be extremely helpful. Let’s explore postnuptial agreements in greater detail.

Postnuptial Agreements- A breakdown of what they are and what they do

As I noted at the outset of this blog, postnuptial agreements are not as well known as prenuptial agreements. Our culture has made prenuptial agreements a little more well known. Whether through music, television, or movies, the term “prenup” is one that we hear with more and more these days.

A postnuptial agreement aims to prompt you and your spouse to closely examine any issues causing difficulties in your marriage and find solutions promptly.

The solution will ostensibly be agreeable to both you and your spouse now and will benefit you all by creating a more amicable divorce (theoretically) should the need arise later.

Benefits of a postnuptial agreement

The benefit of a postnuptial agreement is that even before the divorce, you and your spouse may divide up your property, income, assets, or debts in the fashion as outlined in your postnuptial agreement.

Nothing is stopping you from doing so- not even the approval by a judge. Of course, you must abide by the terms set out for postnuptial agreements in the Texas Family Code, but that is about it.

Another benefit of a postnuptial agreement is that you and your spouse can use it to change the terms of a previously agreed-upon prenuptial agreement. We all know that your life, your spouse’s life, or some combination thereof can change over a few years.

That a postnuptial agreement can essentially modify a prenuptial agreement may be of some value if you and your spouse find yourselves looking at significantly different marital circumstances that had been in place at the time your marriage began.

If you and your spouse:

  1. divorce or
  2. your spouse passes away

A postnuptial agreement being in place can provide peace of mind by allocating resources towards a spouse who otherwise may have lost out on their right some percentage of the deceased spouse’s property through intestate distribution upon death.

I would recommend that anyone over the age of eighteen have a will. With that said, however, a postnuptial agreement can fill in the gaps if you do not.

Spousal support- How can a postnuptial agreement affect the need to pay

Texas law allows for the payment of spousal support/maintenance both temporarily during a divorce and on a more permanent basis after the divorce occurs.

The Family Code lists the guidelines for spousal support guidelines regarding how long a marriage has to have lasted for you to request this type of payment from your spouse. A postnuptial agreement can allow you and your spouse to develop specific provisions regarding spousal maintenance during your marriage and upon your divorce.

You and your spouse can include provisions in the postnuptial agreement stating that neither of you will request or pay support upon divorce or death. Similarly, you can override Texas community property laws by specifying in the agreement that a piece of property, typically considered community property, will go into either your or your spouse’s separate estates.

Family-run businesses and postnuptial agreements

If you and your spouse own a family business, then you all will want to do whatever you can to ensure that it remains profitable, well run and free from drama if you two decide to end your marriage.

Many divorce cases center around what will happen with the family-run business. Parties and their attorneys can spend thousands of dollars on expert witnesses to prove the value of a company or at least attempt to establish when a business came to be.

If, after a divorce, you want to shift roles within the company or have your son take over the day-to-day operations, then you can negotiate for those terms in a postnuptial agreement.

In this way, the postnuptial agreement acts as a business planning device and marriage planning instrument. If there is a way to divide the business at the time of the divorce that you don’t believe a judge would be too keen about, but you believe it to be fair, a postnuptial agreement is an excellent way to help further that cause.

Questions about postnuptial agreements? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC

To learn more about postnuptial agreements or any other subject in family law, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC.

A free-of-charge consultation is available with one of our licensed family law attorneys six days a week. Our office represents clients from southeast Texas, and we would be honored to do the same for you and your family. The first step is to pick up the phone and call today.

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  1. Creating a post-nuptial agreement in Texas and its potential benefits for your family
  2. Could a postnuptial agreement help save your struggling marriage?
  3. Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements: Essential knowledge for Texans
  4. Here is how you write a great post-nuptial agreement in Texas
  5. Can a postnuptial agreement save your marriage after one spouse is unfaithful?
  6. Making Postnuptial Agreements Stick in a Texas Divorce

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