When writing a prenuptial agreement, you’re setting up a plan for what happens when the marriage ends, through death or divorce. This governs many financial decisions, such as how property is divided and to whom it is left. However, it’s important to note that you may actually want to set up two different plans in the prenup, one that kicks in when you divorce and another that is used if one of you passes away.
The idea here is that you want to specifically address the different ways that the marriage can end, as they could impact what you want done with your money and your estate.
For example, you may be coming to the marriage with a sizeable estate. You want to make sure that your spouse doesn’t just decide to leave you in 10 years and take half of that money with him or her. You want to be sure that it stays in your family or goes to your kids.
However, if you pass away, you may feel very differently about your spouse. This is not a situation where your feelings are being spurned or your spouse is leaving you due to infidelity. In this case, you may want the money and estate to all pass to your spouse. It’s a way for you to take care of him or her, from a financial perspective, after death. You don’t want to leave your spouse with nothing.
Everyone has to decide on their own what they want a prenup to say or how it will impact property division, and it’s important to make sure that you cover every angle in Texas.