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Hi everyone, I’m Dr. Michael Mantel, joining Bonnie Rabinovich-Mantel, owner and managing partner of the Primus Family Law Group. Hi Bonnie. Hi Michael, how are you doing today? I’m doing great.
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Welcome to another Family Law Matters. It’s always good to be here with you talking about the most contemporary issues to help people in the throes of the struggle, the emotional, the fiscal, legal struggles of divorce and dealing with family issues and all the rest. And I know that you bring a sensitivity to that.
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But before marriage, couples are beginning more and more to think about how to protect themselves with a prenuptial agreement. I’m not sure if that’s the exact legal term, but what is the exact legal term for that agreement before marriage? There’s a few, a prenuptial agreement is perfectly valid. A premarital agreement is also what we call it.
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But you know, I’d like to turn away from the idea of people using it to protect themselves. What I like to say more is it’s people putting together a plan for, God forbid, it’s kind of like insurance. You know, you pay for insurance every month on the hope that you never need it.
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So you do a premarital agreement hoping it sits in a drawer and you never need it. That’s often what I tell people. It’s a guideline for how you’re going to divide your property and deal with your assets and debts.
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God forbid you get divorced, but you’re expecting not to. When you think about these statistics, if this was a health, I’m gonna show the statistic in a minute, but if this was a health statistic, you sure would take every step you can for that, God forbid, insurance plan. 90% of people in the Western cultures marry by the age of 50, that’s the data.
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In the United States, about half, about 50% of married couples divorce. Subsequent marriages have an even higher divorce rate, 60% of second marriages end in divorce, and almost 3 quarters of all third marriages end in divorce. So if you were told there’s a 50% chance that you’re gonna come down with a disease and this can help, God forbid, in the case it happens, you’d jump at it.
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Talk a little bit about what people can expect when they contact you to begin to make this, God forbid, plan, this premarital agreement. Well, a lot of people don’t really know what they want. And so when you hire me to draft a prenup, and I’ve been doing them for roughly 23 years now, you’ll get like a list of questions.
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Hey, what are you thinking about this? What are you thinking about that? How do you wanna do that? Because I can be as creative as you guys can be, you know, need that creativity. It doesn’t always have to be black and white, you know, I don’t wanna pay any spousal support. There may be intervening factors that you haven’t thought of.
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Well, what if somebody stays home to raise children and therefore their ability to be self-sufficient declines because they’ve spent X amount of years raising children? What about if there’s a serious disability? What about, so I try to get people to think about what they’d like their plan to look like instead of just having a fill in the blank form. A lot of people come to me and want me to review something they’ve done on legal Zoom or one of these. And I get frustrated because it costs more for me to fix what they’ve done than to just draft it from the beginning.
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The other thing people need to realize is there are certain timeline requirements, Michael. You cannot call me on a Friday and say you’re getting married next week and you want a prenup done. That’s not possible.
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It’s not legally possible. It will always be an invalid agreement no matter what some person tells you, I promise you. People are in love.
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They’re so gushing and just beauty and everything is wonderful and they make this beautiful prenup and we’ll never need it because we’re gonna be married for a hundred years until they become a statistic. Right. They become a statistic and one says, I don’t care, I’m not doing that prenup.
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There’s no way I’m giving him or her anything. Screw that prenup. What is Bonnie Rabinovich Mantel at Primus Family Law do about that? Well, if it’s a prenup that they’re trying to challenge, they have to file a motion with the court and try to overturn the prenup.
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And if the prenup follows all the required rules, then they’re gonna have a really hard time either getting out of what they’ve agreed to give up. If somebody says, I don’t need spousal support and now 12 years later, they’re like, screw that. I want everything I can get.
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Or if somebody doesn’t wanna pay according to what they’ve agreed to pay under the prenup. If it’s drafted properly, then unless what they’ve agreed to is considered unconscionable. So for example, a prenup is going to be decided it’s validity at the time of the divorce.
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So we draft something today, the laws are according to today. If somehow, some way the laws change completely, that may undo your prenup, not due to anything the drafter did or what you agreed to, but because there’s been a significant change in the law that affects what you’ve agreed to. Other than that, if you followed the rules, chances are that prenup is gonna be upheld.
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If people have questions about prenuptial agreements and either writing them or challenging them, how can they be in touch with you to get information on that? They can reach us directly at 619-574-8000. And our receptionist will get you onto my calendar for a free 30 minute phone consultation. So we can see how we can help you.
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Or you can reach out to us using the form online on our website at www.primusfamilylaw.com. Terrific. Thanks for another wonderful Family Law Matters. We’ll see you next time.