Houston Prenuptial Agreement Lawyers

Comprehensive Marital Agreements for Houstonians

Prenuptial agreements, also called premarital agreements in Texas, can be extraordinarily beneficial. Though no couple begins a marriage anticipating trouble down the road, planning for the worst-case scenario can negate stress later should something ever go wrong. Our prenuptial agreement attorneys in Houston can help you craft a prenup that protects your rights and best interests.

Our prenuptial and postnuptial agreement attorneys in Houston help you and your partner create a plan together. Call (713) 766-5355 or contact Diggs & Sadler today.

Choosing the Right Attorney in Houston for Your Prenuptial Agreement

Deciding who should draft your prenuptial or postnuptial agreement is as important as deciding what goes into it. These agreements can affect your rights in significant ways if a dispute ever ends up in a Texas family court, so you want counsel who understands both the law on marital property and how judges in Houston actually approach enforcement. When you work with us, we take time to learn about your assets, your relationship dynamics, and your long-term goals so that any agreement reflects your real-world concerns instead of using a one-size-fits-all template.

We regularly represent engaged and married clients whose situations involve closely held businesses, professional practices, complex compensation packages, or property in multiple states or countries. Because cases involving marital agreements in Harris County often intersect with divorce, alimony, and estate planning matters, we draw on our team-based approach to spot issues you may not have considered. If you are looking for a Houston prenuptial agreement attorney or need guidance on a prenup before filing at the Harris County Family Law Center, we can help you prepare documents that are clear, thorough, and consistent with Texas law.

Should I Get a Prenuptial Agreement?

Some of the benefits of a prenuptial agreement include:

• Avoid future conflicts about property and money
• Agree on the terms of life-insurance policies
• Decide on trust agreements and beneficiaries
• Protect your financial security
• Reduce conflicts

It may be wise to consider drafting a prenuptial agreement if one spouse is much wealthier than the other or if you or your spouse owns a business, has assets owned before the marriage, such as a home, stock, or retirement funds, owes significant debt, has children from an earlier marriage, or has an inheritance.

What a Prenuptial Agreement in Houston Can Do

Texas prenuptial and premarital agreements not only offer a way to protect your assets in the event of a divorce in Houston, but they also offer a way to agree on how to split assets before marriage. 

In addition to addressing money assets in a marriage or divorce, a prenuptial agreement can also cover things such as:

• Who has the right to do what with certain property
• How joint bank accounts will be created and used
• What happens to the property if one spouse dies
• How life insurance benefits are allocated
• How spousal maintenance would be handled in the event of divorce
• How future disputes can be resolved, such as mediation and arbitration
• Payment of attorney's fees and spousal support upon divorce
• Estate planning decisions

What a Prenuptial Agreement in Houston Can't Do

There are certain items that prenuptial agreements cannot include. These items are unenforceable by law, and attempting to retain them may risk nullifying the agreement, in part or whole. For example, a prenuptial agreement cannot include provisions that involve illegal activity. For instance, a provision that aims to allow bigamy by one of the spouses will be invalid.

Additionally, a prenup does not have the power to determine future child custody or child support. In terms of custody, in the event of a divorce, the power to decide child custody lies exclusively with the parties by agreement at the time of divorce, or by the family court if the parties are unable to reach an agreement.

Property Division With and Without a Prenuptial Agreement in Houston

Texas is one of the few states that uses a community property system. Generally speaking, the system assumes that both spouses have common ownership of all property acquired during a marriage. Therefore, if the couple divorces, all acquired assets (with certain exceptions) are divisible between the parties.

In contrast, a prenuptial agreement can make specifications so that certain acquired assets cannot be divided following a divorce. For example, if one spouse runs their own business, the premarital agreement may stipulate that the business's earnings will go to that spouse as separate property. A similar provision may apply to one spouse's stocks before the marriage, or other assets that could generate earnings throughout the marriage.

Cohabitation Agreement Attorneys in Texas

Proof of a common-law marriage would require that a couple:

1. Agree to be married
2. Cohabitate
3. Hold themselves out to the public as though they are married.

Therefore, couples who decide to cohabitate without marriage sometimes want to enter into agreements that acknowledge and confirm that they do not intend to be married to one another. A cohabitation agreement can also address the financial aspects of the relationship. These agreements may outline how assets are owned, how expenses are shared, and what happens to property or debts if the relationship ends. While cohabitation agreements serve a purpose similar to premarital agreements, they are distinct and tailored to unmarried partners rather than spouses.