Putting a prenup in place before you walk down the aisle will save a lot of time, money, and heartache should your marriage dissolve later.
Find out more about prenuptials
by Diane Faulkner
Diane is a writer, speaker, and human resource consultant with over 30 years of experience working in and covering em.
Updated on: July 28, 2024 · 11 min read
The last thing unmarried people want to think about in the months before a trip down the marital aisle in Las Vegas is divorce. But with the divorce rate at about 33 percent, it’s a smart move to take a deep dive into financial and other situations before you say, “I do.” This way, you can make decisions with a clear head to ensure you and your heirs are properly cared for should the worst happen. You’re preparing for a worst-case scenario, a key practice for anything in life.
A Nevada prenuptial agreement, or prenup, is a written agreement created by one or both parties in a couple before they marry. It details the ownership of respective assets should their marriage fail. A Nevada premarital agreement, also known as an antenuptial agreement or prenuptial contract, establishes each spouse's separate or marital property and financial rights and is effective upon the marriage. It’s like estate planning but for marriage. You make a will or set up a trust to leave items to your children or heirs; a prenup helps determine who gets what if the marriage ends in separation or divorce.
Negotiating a prenup in Nevada does not guarantee impending marital disaster. It's a good exercise because it forces couples to communicate their attitudes about money, saving and spending habits, and financial goals, as well as expose accrued debts. Financial stress and too much conflict are leading causes of divorce. Why not get all of that out in the open before you join households and save yourself the stress?
While it’s common for wealthy couples in Nevada to enter into prenuptial agreements, couples with more modest means increasingly turn to prenuptial agreements to protect money and separate property for their children from prior marriages. Business owners, especially small business owners, also look to prenuptial agreements to protect personal rights to their businesses from being taken over or dissolved over the course of a divorce.
Whether a couple has children, prenuptial agreements clarify each spouse's rights and responsibilities regarding finances during their marriage. For instance, how they’ll manage joint bank accounts, credit card and household bills, and savings. They can also spell out the respective obligations when one spouse plans to put the other through college or a professional certification program.
There are nine basic areas to cover when creating your Nevada prenuptial agreement.
For couples in common law states, real estate acquired during a marriage is considered a shared asset in a divorce, meaning it's split 50-50 between you. When you’re parting ways, that kind of situation isn’t always tenable, so most likely, you’ll sell the asset and split the proceeds from the sale.
Prenuptial agreements in Nevada override common law because they can specify how future significant assets, like a home, will be acquired and whom they belong to in the event of a divorce. However, that’s not a universally true statement, so it’s advisable to consult with a divorce attorney.
As the name implies, premarital assets are assets you own before marrying. They can, however, become jointly owned through such an agreement or transfer of title. In some states, a home owned by one spouse before marriage could arguably become common property if, say, funds from a joint bank account or from the non-owning spouse’s account are used to pay the mortgage. Adding your future spouse to a checking account so you both have a debit card may have ramifications you’ll want to avoid with a prenuptial agreement.
Cash and other liquid assets, like life insurance policies or death benefits, kept separate over the course of the marriage can be retained by the owning spouse even after a split. If you pool your assets in a joint bank account or joint retirement account, however, you could wind up arguing over who gets how much, if any. That’s where a prenuptial agreement comes in handy.
In the same way as with cash, a premarital agreement keeps investments separate or, at least, defines what happens with a jointly held account, like an IRA or brokerage account.
When discussing this aspect of the premarital agreement, use this opportunity to discuss your expectations for future spouses when it comes to saving and investing. For example, you could set an expectation that, during the marriage, one or both of you will contribute a certain percentage toward a mutually owned retirement plan.
While a prenup cannot help you decide which of you gets the children and who gets to be involved in big decisions, such as religious upbringing, healthcare, and school, it can help you discuss children from a prior marriage and their inheritance. Your state’s inheritance laws and probate process might prevent you from providing what marital and premarital property you’d like to give your intended heirs. Plus, the surviving spouse will have the strongest claim to the property after the death of the other party. That surviving spouse can then parse out your property to children from a previous marriage. This is why a prenup (and even a living trust) can be a great estate planning tool.
If you’re a business owner, a prenuptial agreement is the best way to ensure your business stays yours. That is, unless you want to share it with your prospective spouse, in which case the prenup will act as a clarifying tool in the event of a divorce. This is true even if your business or shares of business ownership aren’t a significant portion of your net worth. It’s just a good idea to distinguish that your business is outside your spouse’s control.
Tangible items with sentimental value should also be considered when creating a prenuptial agreement. Your spouse should not appropriate things that mean something to you or your heirs. While some things may not be valuable, others may be, and they may be sold off for profit. In a community property state, you’ll want to distinguish certain assets from community property so they remain yours to pass on as you like to your heirs.
In this age of astronomical debt, a prenuptial agreement can clarify who’s responsible for paying off debt brought into the marriage. You want debt to be considered separate property, not community property. You don’t want to be roped into the financial responsibility of settling debt you didn’t create either before or during the marriage. A prenup draws a line in the sand for you to escape responsibility for payoffs.
While you cannot spell out certain obligations, like who will do what chores, you can use the opportunity to discuss the larger vision of how your home will function. Who files and pays taxes, who pays the bills, who works, and who manages the finances, however, can be spelled out.
There are two main disadvantages to a prenuptial agreement.
While you can create a do-it-yourself prenup in Las Vegas, it’s not advisable because state rules can change. Your best bet would be to contact a family law attorney who would charge anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 and up, depending on how complicated your assets are. The more each spouse owns, the more complex the agreement will be, which increases cost. According to marketplace data, however, the average cost of a Nevada prenuptial agreement is $1,066.67. Most prenuptial agreement attorneys offer a free consultation with no obligation.
To make a prenup valid in Nevada, these criteria must be met. The written agreement, signed by both parties and agreed to voluntarily, must include full and fair disclosure of all assets and liabilities. It must also be made without signs of duress, fraud, or undue influence on either party. See “What voids a prenup?” above.
The prenup that is in writing and signed by both parties is effective upon the couple's marriage. See “What is a prenuptial agreement in Nevada?” above.
No wording that has anything to do with child custody or child support or that negatively affects spousal or child support can go into a prenup. Same with domestic violence relief. No illegal activities or anything that violate public policy or criminal statutes. See “What are the five things you cannot agree to in a prenuptial agreement?”
Yes. Even couples of more moderate incomes use prenups to protect premarital assets for children from previous marriages. The agreement can help control property distribution. See “What does a premarital agreement cover?” above.
No. The court has the final say in child and spousal support (alimony). See “What are the five things you cannot include in a prenuptial agreement?” above.
A prenuptial agreement is a complex contract that must be executed properly to be enforceable. The latest you should start the process is a couple of weeks before the wedding.
When the prenup favors one spouse over the other. This is why it is important for each party to retain their own legal counsel so there isn’t any conflict of interest on the attorneys’ part.
While Nevada statutes include a law called the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act, which allows many things, there are five things you cannot include in your premarital contracts.
These items include:
The Uniform Premarital Agreements Act holds that the following issues render a Las Vegas prenuptial agreement, or any premarital agreement in Nevada, not enforceable:
You should not have signed off on anything that has to do with child custody, child support, spousal support (alimony), or other arrangements having to do with support, such as domestic violence relief. Also, don’t agree to anything that is illegal or contrary to public policy or criminal statutes. See “What are the five things you cannot agree to in a prenuptial agreement?"
Chapter 123 of the Nevada Revised Statutes sets forth Nevada’s Uniform Premarital Agreement Act (UPPA law), so the courts are responsible for enforcement of Nevada prenuptial agreements.
Find out more about prenuptialsThis article is for informational purposes. This content is not legal advice, it is the expression of the author and has not been evaluated by LegalZoom for accuracy or changes in the law.
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