5 Tips on BC Prenuptial Agreements

BC Prenuptial Agreements are tough to even think about when you are about to get married. Who wants to talk about separation when you are in love? And doesn’t talking about it mean that your partner doesn’t trust you and the relationship? And thinks about possible separation in the future?  Trust me I get it. It’s hard and awkward and usually the woman will take it as personal and offensive and any talks about BC prenuptial agreements will end in a fight. And no results.

How you choose to approach the concept of a prenuptial agreement makes all the difference.

Let me explain:

What Are BC Prenuptial Agreements?

Prenuptial agreements in BC, are better known as marriage or cohabitation agreements. These are agreements you enter in to prior or during your marriage or cohabitation. They set out how property, debt, spousal or child support will be determined if you and your spouse decide to separate in the future. They lay out a guideline on how to approach issues at separation and prevent conflict.

BC Prenuptial Agreements will benefit both spouses

Prenups or marriage agreements are like insurance. If there is an accident such as separation or divorce, they will come to play to save you and your spouse. You may never have to use the insurance if you don’t have an accident. But accidents are possible and it would be stupid to think that your relationship may not at some point in the future have an accident. After all 50% of marriages end up in divorce or the accident.

The main purpose of a BC prenuptial agreement is to make sure that there are clear guidelines on how to split assets and support if separation or divorce happens. So prenups are not about one person keeping everything and the other losing everything. They are about saving time and costs of fighting and wasting money if a relationship breaks down.

When or if your marriage breaks down, you can always get in to a separation agreement. But those are more expensive, take more negotiation and your mind won’t be at ease until they are signed.

What Are BC Prenuptial Agreements?

BC Prenuptial agreements are agreements couples get in to prior to marriage. They must be in writing and must be witnessed. They often require independent legal advice and financial disclosure. They are a lot of work but let’s look at the benefits they have to.  These agreements can provide for:

• How spousal support is determined in case the relationship breaks down; Does having a child make it different? How long should you be married in order to pay/receive spousal support? How much should you pay?
• How assets are divided: do we value them at the time of separation or at a later/earlier time? And how will they be divided if you brought them in to the marriage or during marriage?
• How debts are divided: what if you own a business and want to be solely liable for its debts rather than your spouse?
• How estates are divided: What if one of your dies and you are separated but not divorced? In some cases, if you are not divorced your estate will automatically go to your estranged wife/husband. Prenuptial agreements can provide otherwise – like your estate going to your child.
• How Child Support is determined: Who pays for the extraordinary expenses? Will you use the Child Support Guidelines or not?
• And many other factors.

BC Prenuptial Agreements Can be Unfair but Not That Unfair

Contrary to what you see on TV or hear in the media, BC prenuptial agreements can’t be totally one sided. If they are, a judge in BC can cancel them or set them aside. So you may as well do no prenuptial agreements if you are selfish and don’t want to leave anything to your spouse.

If you are a millionaire and you marry someone with no assets and money, and get in to an agreement that says they get nothing upon divorce, the agreement may be cancelled or set aside due to significant unfairness. This is true specially in cases where the wife is to get nothing out of the prenup and then the couple has kids. They divorce, and the husband has millions and the wife has nothing. Even a bullet proof BC prenuptial agreement may not save the husband from a judge thinking the agreement is insane and the wife should be getting something out of the marriage.

The risk happens when the judge cancels the agreement.. that means everything will be divided 50/50 in most cases. So do an agreement that perhaps leaves her with 20% and have the peace of mind that the agreement will hold rather than having a BC prenuptial agreement that says she gets 0 and you get everything.

5 Things a BC Prenuptial Agreement MUST have

1. Full Financial Disclosure: If you don’t tell your spouse how much money you have and in the agreement you just say each of your keep whatever you have, your BC prenuptial agreement will easily be cancelled.
2. Lack of Duress: Don’t force your spouse to sign a BC prenuptial agreement and don’t put them under pressure. Duress can make an agreement void.
3. Independent Legal Advice: both you and your spouse need to understand your rights and consequences of entering in to an agreement .That can only be done by each of your having 2 independent lawyers advising you. If you don’t do this, the agreement can easily be set aside. You can contact our family lawyers to obtain independent legal advice.
4. Proper Time to negotiate: if an agreement is signed on the night before you get married and your spouse didn’t have time to properly review or consider it, you will be in trouble.
5. Compliance with BC Family Law Act and Divorce Act: Do not download prenuptial agreements from Google. You need an agreement that complies with BC laws otherwise it’s not even worth the $10 you pay for it. You pay $1500 to $2000 per year for your car insurance. Why wouldn’t you invest a fraction of that to protect your future?

How Much DO BC Prenuptial Agreements Cost?

To give you an idea, costs of trial if you do not have a BC prenuptial agreement will be from $50,000 t0 $250,000. So invest in a BC prenuptial agreement because it makes every sense you can possibly imagine. BC Prenuptial Agreement costs range anywhere from $2500 to $10,000 plus taxes depending on the complexity of your case.

For more information, contact our award-winning BC prenuptial agreement lawyers by calling 604-974-9529 or get in touch.