(0:00 – 0:14)
Welcome to Family Law Matters. I’m Dr. Michael Mantell and I’m privileged to be joining Bonnie Rabinovitch Mantel, owner and managing partner of the Primus Family Law Group. Hi, Bonnie.

(0:15 – 0:20)
Hi, Michael. How are you doing today? I’m doing well. How are you doing today? I’m doing really well.

(0:21 – 0:49)
Good, good, good. So lots of folks who are on the path to marriage are beginning more and more, it seems to me, to be thinking about the value, the benefit of a prenuptial agreement, said oftentimes as a pre-nup. Obviously, Primus Family Law Group has been doing pre-nup agreements for many, many, many years.

(0:50 – 1:27)
Tell us a little bit about the first step in getting a pre-nup agreement. Well, the first step is to really discuss it with your partner because surprising them with a pre-nup is really bad form. Okay.

So we’ve discussed it. It makes sense. And I feel like there’s value for both of us.

It’s not like, well, she’s very wealthy and her family wants to protect the money or vice versa or something like that. It is a sense of equality coming into it. Now tell us about the process.

(1:28 – 4:27)
What you have to do is you have to realize if you’ve already set your wedding date that you must allow for a certain amount of time beforehand. So the law says you must get your final agreement no closer than seven days before your wedding. So a lot of people, unfortunately, call me and say, hey, I’m getting married in two weeks.

Can I get a pre-nup done? And I have to tell them that they need to move their wedding date because it will not be upheld by a court of law. That’s one. Number two, both of you need to have attorneys.

So you cannot have one attorney representing both parties because regardless, Michael, as you’re saying, we come in with equality, more often than not, one party has more than the other. And that creates an immediate presumption of undue influence. Hey, I’m not going to marry you unless you sign this, which is probably not true.

But in order to make sure that that isn’t claimed later on, you follow all these specific requirements. And you want an attorney that knows all of these rules so that later on, if God forbid you need this premarital agreement, it is held upheld by a court. When, in your experience, you look at the course of your 20, nearly 25 years of experience as a family attorney, I suspect that 25 years ago, pre-nups were not as popular as they are today.

But when you look at the whole picture, do you recommend pre-nups? Absolutely. You do? Yes, it is not going to affect custody, visitation, child support, you know, the primary things upon divorce, but you can certainly make a contract about your property, about spousal support, and confirm things so that if you do have to get divorced, you’re not having to litigate or argue about or mediate every single issue. Certain things are done.

And if the pre-nup has agreements about spousal support or property, does it always have to align with what the law says as if there wasn’t a pre-nup? If a couple’s getting divorced, how do we split the property? What goes into that pre-nup agreement? So it’s interesting that you say it has to align with the law. People can contract to do whatever they want, even if it’s not necessarily in their best interest, as long as they are informed, and there is written consent to give up these rights like spousal support or half of the property. So what pre-nups do really is take it out of the presumption in California of 50-50.

(4:29 – 4:47)
Very interesting. Very interesting. So I think the takeaway is, based on all your years of experience, this is something you recommend that couples strongly consider with enough time to give you and everyone else a chance for it to settle in legally and all that prior to the marriage.

(4:47 – 5:16)
And if people have questions about how to begin a pre-nuptial agreement with you and Primus Family Law, how can they reach you? Well, you can always reach us at 619-574-8000. And you can get on my calendar for a free 30-minute telephone consultation. Or you can reach us at www.primusfamilylaw.com. There’s a contact sheet to fill out.

(5:16 – 5:27)
Great. Bonnie, thanks so much for your very informative discussion on another edition of Primus Family Law Matters. We’ll see you next time.

Thanks, Michael. Have a great day. You too.