Nuptial Agreement Forms And Lists For Estate Planners (Page 5 of 6) in pdf

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Nuptial Agreement Forms | 63

9. Life Insurance. Will either of you be required to maintain life insurance payable to the other? This

is a common method of securing/funding payments owed to a divorcing or surviving spouse.

10. Expenses. Will each of you pay your own legal expenses if it becomes necessary to uphold the

agreement in court?

11. Contributions to Separate Assets. If either of you has an asset that you decide to keep separate, will

contributions to that asset by the other party be deemed a gift? For example, if Jane owns a vacation home

and you pay $15,000 for a new roof on that home, will you acquire any rights in the home or are you merely

making a gift to Jane of that $15,000?

D. Sample Issues List for Drafting of a Postnuptial Agreement

1. What property is held jointly and/or individually? How are all of the assets of the parties presently

“classified” under the law (marital, non-marital, community, separate)? Are there legal, emotional or other

reasons why changes should be made?

2. Who is responsible for paying off debt? Is debt in joint name? How can debt be repaid and what are

the priorities in repayment of debt?

3. How are earnings during the marriage allocated? Is there an inequity in how the parties spend or

save earnings? Should there be an agreed upon percentage of earnings that each person is able to spend/

save? Are both contributing to the family’s income to the best of his or her ability?

4. What is the role of the spouse, if any, in a business now or in the future?

5. How should a business be disposed of in the event of divorce, disability or death?

6. What are your marital priorities for the future; are you goals to pay for a child’s private school col-

lege education or to purchase a boat or to save for retirement? How are you going to implement these ideas?

7. How are monies divided in a blended family? How much support should be given to children from

previous marriages? What are the ages and needs of the children? What monies should be used to pay for

these needs? Are there children with “special needs?”

8. What happens if one spouse falls ill or becomes disabled? Have you considered purchasing long

term health care insurance, disability insurance, have you executed a health care proxy or power of attor-

ney?

9. What protection do you have in the event of one another’s death? Do you have life insurance for the

other; updated wills; considered estate planning?

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