Many people think that prenuptial agreements are only needed when one or more parties to a marriage brings significant assets with him or her into the union. However, this is an incorrect assumption. Prenuptial agreements don’t have to be limited to specifying division of assets that exist prior to marriage, and often are not. A number of situations warrant prenuptial agreements even when neither party has assets at the beginning of the marriage.
One of the most common prenuptial agreement examples involves situations in which one partner supports the other through graduate or professional school. Even though neither partner is moneyed at the outset of the marriage, the supportive actions of one partner can have a significant impact on the financial success of the other. In such a situation, the lifetime earning potential of the partner who earns the advanced degree is often much greater than that of the other partner.
Without a prenuptial agreement, however, the partner who earned the higher education isn’t likely to be obligated to share his or her earnings with the other party in the event of a divorce. However, prenuptial agreement forms could have protected the interests of the supporting spouse by specifying terms for spousal support.
