The current healthcare crisis has affected families across the country in a variety of ways. You may be facing additional stress at home as you take on the new responsibility of home schooling your children. Your mental health may be suffering, as social distancing requirements prevent you from spending time with loved ones outside of your household.
In addition, you may be one of the millions of Americans who is now facing unemployment as a result of the pandemic. Suddenly, you are a stay-at-home parent who is no longer contributing to the household income.
A major income disparity between you and your spouse has the potential to put strain on your marriage. It may be worth understanding how a postnuptial agreement can help to protect stay-at-home parents in uncertain times.
Creating an insurance plan
A postnuptial agreement (or prenuptial agreement, for couples that aren’t yet married) can serve couples in many ways. When one member of a couple experiences a sudden loss of income, it can put strain on the relationship. In marriages where one spouse earns significantly less than the other, a postnup can offer assurances that if a divorce occurs, both spouses will remain financially solvent.
In addition, a postnuptial agreement can benefit both members of a couple in other areas. You and your spouse can customize your agreement to decide what you want it to include. For instance, you can use a postnuptial agreement to:
- Protect one spouse from inheriting the other’s debt
- Determine how your property would be separated in the event of a divorce – so that the court wouldn’t make these important decisions for you
- Protect your estate plans and retirement benefits
- Provide for children in blended families
By coming to an agreement while your marriage is strong, it helps to ensure that each spouse would be treated fairly in a potential divorce – without heated emotions affecting decision making.
No one enters into marriage planning for a divorce. However, we can’t predict the future – and the current pandemic is a reminder of that. Postnuptial agreements can help protect you if the unexpected does occur. And in uncertain times such as these, knowing that you and your spouse have established a plan to safeguard you both can make your marriage even stronger.
