What’s the best way to tell a soon-to-be spouse you would like to have a prenuptial agreement?

“For people who are thinking about getting married, what’s the best way to tell a soon-to-be spouse you would like to have a prenuptial agreement?”

When your relationship goes from a dating relationship to potentially an engagement or marriage relationship, you need to hit that issue head on, be very direct about it, and talk about it—the earlier, the better.

When you talk to your attorney about the details of a premarital agreement, the attorney will to want to know what discussions you’ve had with your fiancée. Do they understand what they’re giving up or what they’re getting as a result of signing one? The negotiation process can become fairly lengthy, especially in cases where you have somebody who has significant assets. There are provisions for disclosure of assets, nondisclosure, and waiver of disclosure and you want to make sure that they’ve had detailed discussions about that.

Start talking about premarital agreements as soon as you start talking about the relationship going beyond dating and discuss what the expectation is if it gets more serious, including if you are willing to execute a premarital agreement. Decide at that point if the relationship is worth running the risk of not having an agreement as opposed to waiting until you’re already planning a wedding and then suddenly saying that you won’t marry your fiancé unless they sign a premarital agreement. That’s a disastrous way to handle it.

Brian Loughmiller is a partner at the McKinney, Texas law firm of Loughmiller Higgins. Serving family law clients throughout North Texas and the DFW Metroplex area, Brian and his partner, Eric Higgins, have 47 years of combined trial experience. One of the top family lawyers in the state, Brian has been recognized as a Super Lawyer every year since 2005.

Eric Higgins is a family attorney serving residents of North Texas and the DFW Metroplex area who have family law concerns and divorce issues. Eric and his partner, Brian Loughmiller, have over 47 years of combined trial experience, which provides their firm with the experience necessary to guide divorcing clients through what can otherwise be a challenging and confusing process.