Although we are not Family Law Attorneys, we would like to discuss Pre-Nups. Prenuptual Agreements always come into play in every area of law, and today we will discuss in particular how they relate to Real Estate Law and Estate Planning.
Around the Gavel by Morris Law Center · Importance of Pre-Nups for Estate Planning and Real Estate Purposes | Around the Gavel Episode 68
For example: If you meet somebody and you decide to get married and you already have a house that is titled in your name prior to the marriage then most people think that if you do not have a Pre-Nup, even though you are now both living in your house, that it is still solely their property and not the other person’s house because you had it before marriage. This is not true in Nevada.
Nevada is a community property state, which means that once you get married, you are paying a mortgage on the property that you own through “community funds”. This means that whatever either of you earns as income during the marriage is now a part of community funds. All of a sudden your spouse is now entitled to a portion of that house, even though it’s titled in your name and you bought it before marriage. That is why it’s very important to get things like a Prenuptial agreement in place before you get married, in case it becomes a problem down the road.
Many times, people will call us at Morris Law Center and say, “I want to change the title on the deed to my house,” At this point we have to ask them the following:
Are you married?
Did you purchase the house before marriage?
Are you using community funds?
Do you have a Pre-nup?
All of this comes into play with Estate Planning, because whenever there’s a Prenuptial agreement, we have to take these things into consideration. It’s going to affect the way that we create a Trust, and what assets we put into the Trust, so it’s very important that we know if there’s a Pre-Nup or a Post-Nup in place when we’re doing Estate Planning.
If you want to talk more about similar or other Real Estate or Estate Planning topics, contact us.