New Tax Law May Require a Reexamination of Your Prenuptial Agreement

 Posted on September 06, 2018 in Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements

If you signed a prenuptial agreement before the start of your marriage, you are among the small percentage of couples that decided to “insure” your assets against the devastating effects of a nasty divorce. However, a new tax law may now require you to reexamine (and potentially make changes to) your current agreement. Learn more in the following sections, including how our seasoned divorce lawyers can assist you with the process. 

How the New Tax Law May Affect the Provisions of Your Prenuptial Agreement 

If your prenuptial agreement includes a provision for alimony, you may need to reexamine it, as the new tax law changes how alimony is handled after a divorce. Though alimony was once considered a deduction that payers could claim to lower their tax load at the end of the year, it will become nothing more than an added expense in divorces that occur after December 31, 2018, as the new law eliminates it as a deduction. Since the paying spouse is typically in a higher tax bracket than the receiving spouse, this change may leave less money for the family unit.

Reexamining your prenuptial agreement can help you determine if alimony is still a useful tool in the event of a divorce. However, you will want to do this with the assistance of a seasoned family law attorney, as they typically have an in-depth understanding of how the law applies to prenuptial agreements and divorce. Moreover, an attorney can help you strategize other possible provisions that can better protect your assets if alimony is determined to be an unfavorable one. 

Modifying Your Prenuptial Agreement to Fit the Situation 

Whether you need to change your prenuptial agreement because of the new tax law or have had a change in circumstance (i.e. adopted or gave birth to children), it is important that you seek that modification as soon as possible. Divorce can occur at any time, and a modification is unlikely once the process has started. Even if divorce is not underway, if there have been shifts in your marriage (i.e. money issues, resentment, added stress from children, etc.), it could alter your spouse’s willingness to agree to a modification, which is required under state law. 

Contact Our Wheaton Family Law Attorneys

At Davi Law Group, LLC, we work hard to protect the financial futures of our clients, and we can assist you in determining what (if any) modifications should be made to your current prenuptial agreement. Start by scheduling a personalized consultation with our DuPage County prenuptial agreement attorneys. Call 630-580-6373 today. 

Source:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherelliott/2018/07/19/read-this-before-you-sign-a-prenuptial-agreement/#75c250d7587c