On behalf of The Law Offices of Mary Ann Beaty, PC posted in Prenuptial Agreements on Friday, February 27, 2015.

A prenuptial agreement can do many things. It can help you protect assets that you don’t want to be subject to property division in the event of a divorce. If you’re Jennifer Aniston, for example, you may not want your streaming royalties from Friends on Netflix to be considered marital property, even if your payday won’t come until after your planned nuptials.

On the other hand, no matter who you are, there are some limitations to prenuptial agreements. Let’s take a look at some of the ways in which a family law professional can help Dallas couples entering a marriage to create a prenuptial agreement draft that they both feel comfortable with, while still ensuring that the agreement won’t be struck down by a judge for including unenforceable clauses. We present this as general information only, not as specific legal advice.

Prenuptial agreements are great at doing what they’re famous for — keeping separate property separate from marital property. They do, however, require full disclosure of the assets each partner is bringing into the marriage. They can help protect the property rights of children from previous marriages as well. They can even ensure that debts — credit card debt, medical debt, student loans and other types — will stay separate in the event of a divorce, and that one spouse won’t be left on the hook for the other’s debt.

So what can’t Dallas couples include in a prenuptial agreement? For one thing, matters of child custody and child support payments. The court will always be the decision-maker in these areas. It should go without saying that nothing in a prenuptial agreement can violate any other Texas or federal law. Also, the more personal the details in a prenuptial agreement — like who will do what chores, what the holiday traditions will consist of, anything along these non-financial lines — may garner extra judicial scrutiny and can be easily tossed aside by a judge.

That doesn’t mean, however, that spouses can’t make agreements between themselves regarding these things. But a prenuptial agreement is not intended for such uses. A Dallas prenuptial agreement lawyer can provide more information on how a prenuptial agreement can help protect couples’ rights. Many find that it actually helps to build a strong foundation for their marriage.