To find a prenuptial lawyer in South Africa who can assist with your premarital agreement, please visit perdekoop.co.za.
You’re in love… you’re planning your wedding… the last thing you want to think about is the possibility of divorce or death! For this reason many bridal couples leave their premarital agreement to the last minute. However, your premarital agreement is a vitally important building block in a healthy relationship. The agreement aims to protect the best interests of both bride and groom – as unit and as individuals – not only if they separate, but also if they remain together. Many couples, for example, don’t realize that a well structured premarital agreement is vitally important to protect the assets of either parties from the debts of the other – thereby safeguarding your joint estate even if you never get divorced.
Couples also often don’t realize that a prenuptial contract must be drawn up before the wedding. As one groom put it “I thought there would be a tick box on our marriage certificate for ‘in community’ or ‘outside of community or property’, and that we’d make the selection on the day…”. There is no tick box… If you don’t have a premarital agreement you will automatically be married in community of property – a decision with far reaching consequences you should choose actively, not by default. Changing this later can be a costly and time consuming affair.
There are many options when it comes to premarital agreements and you are certain to find one that suits you both as a couple and as individuals. You should discuss these options with an prenuptial lawyer, who will be able to advise about the best option for you. Basically, you’ll choose from one of three options (highly oversimplified here):
In community of property:
What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours. We share everything.
This can put the joint estate at risk from debtors, and is not advisable if spouses have independent businesses or want to protect themselves from bankruptcy by safeguarding the assets of one partner against debt of the other.
Outside of community of property with accrual:
What’s yours before the wedding remains yours, and what’s mine before the wedding remains mine, but what we collect during the marriage is ours to share.
If you choose this option you may also choose to “declare” your assets before the marriage as zero – thereby sharing what you’ve collected before the wedding with your spouse, but at the same time protecting these assets from debtors.
Outside of community of property without accrual:
What’s yours before the wedding remains yours, and what’s mine before the wedding remains mine. What you collect during the marriage remains yours, and what I collect during the marriage remains mine.
To find a prenuptial lawyer who can assist with choosing the best option for your premarital agreement, please visit perdekoop.co.za.
