Pre- and Post-Marital Agreements

What is a premarital agreement?

      A premarital agreement is a contract between persons who are about to marry that provides protection from the creation of community property during marriage. A premarital agreement identifies all assets and liabilities of the parties, and the values thereof, existing at the time of the marriage. The parties can then contract that such property remains separate, and that the growth of, or interest earned upon such separate property (which would otherwise be community property) also remains separate property.

What can be included in a premarital agreement?

      The trend among Texas courts is to allow persons the freedom to do what they want with their property, so essentially anything that is not criminal or against public policy can be contracted for within a premarital agreement.

Can both persons use one attorney in preparing a premarital agreement?

      While one attorney is all that is necessary to draft the premarital agreement itself, each party to the agreement should use their own counsel to prepare the schedules and assets and liabilities to be included in the agreement, review the agreement, and explain how it affects their rights.

Although we want to protect the majority of our separate assets, can we also allow for some creation of community property?

      A well-drafted premarital agreement can provide for the creation of some community assets. Again, it is important to explicitly define how the community assets are to be created and how the remaining assets would be affected.

Non-Marital Cohabitation Agreements

 If you are intending to or do live with someone but you do not currently intend to be married, a non-marital cohabitation agreement can assist you in defining the parameters of your living arrangement.  If you want to ensure that your assets and debts remain separate from those of your significant other, a cohabitation agreement will protect both parties, if drafted correctly.  Cohabitation agreements also include provisions for payment of joint bills.