A pre-nuptial agreement is written to protect your power and money in marriage. It is the blueprint in the event you get divorced. Below is an excerpt from my book Fair Share Divorce for Women, Second Edition: The Definitive Guide to Creating a Winning Solution. It provides information about what is included in a pre-nup as well as practical, modern-day reasons for negotiating an agreement.

Marriage and divorce are the most important financial transactions in anyone's lifetime. A contemporary woman needs to be informed about both of them. Divorce is the one business deal that puts virtually everything that a couple owns on the table.

Planning for the contingency that a marriage may end in divorce is not romantic, but if the statisticians are correct approximately 50 percent of all present marriages will end in divorce. If a woman were in any other business enterprise with a failure rate that high, she would certainly protect herself. If you have sizable wealth, a closely held business or are entering into a second marriage with significant assets, you will probably want a pre-nuptial agreement. The number of second marriages ending in divorce is greater than 50%.

In a pre-nuptial agreement you will negotiate the financial terms of your marriage and each partner's role before saying the vows. Financial issues include: bill paying, earnings, career goals, short- and long-term financial goals, estate planning in the event of death or divorce, and disability. Other issues include:

• How income taxes will be paid?
• Who will pay to defend a tax audit?
• Who will pay for specific expenses and obligations in a divorce? Certain levels of support may be promised after a certain number of years of marriage, or perhaps a percentage of income may be shared per an agreed upon formula.
• How should a pension be shared? You can't waive rights to pension benefits if you are not married, so this may require a post-nuptial agreement where you waive the pension rights in lieu of some other asset.

I recommend couples allow 6 months to complete the pre-nuptial agreement. There are several useful purposes for a pre-nuptial agreement other than planning for dissolution. These could include the following:

• Establishing a written record of each party's separate property and its value and determining the procedures to assist you in maintaining it as separate property.
• Defining each person's debts and protecting the other person's property and earnings from liability (e.g., a hold harmless clause regarding prior income tax return liabilities or debts from a closely held business).
• Reducing the fear that one spouse is marrying the other for his/her money.
• You may be giving up alimony/maintenance from a former spouse when remarrying and want some financial security for this action.
• Planning for the disposition of property upon death, including preserving an existing estate plan and ensuring that each party's children are provided for and that certain family assets, especially family business interests, remain in the bloodlines.
• Many remarrying senior citizens are using the prenuptial agreement to address the possibility of future disability. They want to protect the way their financial affairs are handled if one spouse suffers a stroke, or develops Alzheimer’s or other disabling heath condition. This agreement determines who pays for health care on the incapacity of one spouse, whether inside the home or in a convalescent home. Whether to sell the primary residence to cover the costs of care, as well as the use, possession and disposition of personal assets can be areas covered in the agreement. If there are adult children or children from prior marriages the prenuptial agreement can be used to minimize the threat of litigation or interference by these children, who may believe they are protecting their parent or inheritance rights.

For more information about Kathleen Miller, visit www.milleradvisors.com and www.fairsharedivorce.com.