Protecting Your Assets in a Divorce

When you're planning to get married, you probably aren't thinking about how to protect yourself should you wind up divorcing your partner. However, it's important to realize that over 50% of all marriages will end in divorce. If you aren't prepared to protect your assets, you'll find it much harder to get a divorce and begin your new life, should your marriage end unexpectedly.

Steps to take before getting married

More and more couples are choosing to see a lawyer before getting married for advice on merging their assets or for more information on pre-nuptial agreements. Pre-nuptial agreements will make it much easier for you to sort out your assets in the event of a divorce. It's important to remember that it will be much easier to make these arrangements when you're on good terms with your perspective partner. While a pre-nuptial agreement will not always prevent a prolonged or bitter divorce settlement, it can help mitigate some of the issues that come up.

If you or your spouse is independently wealthy, or if either of you own a business, you'll definitely want to plan to set up a pre-nuptial agreement. It may seem un-romantic to consider this while your head is full of fun wedding matters, but it could be critical in the long run. After all, if your marriage should fall apart down the road, the last thing you'll want to see is half of the business you spent a lifetime building in the hands of your ex.

Managing assets while you are married

When you marry someone, you want to be able to trust them enough to share everything – including bank accounts, deeds, car registrations and credit cards. Unfortunately, if you start having marital problems, you may find that all of these assets can be used as leverage against you. Therefore, regardless of how much you love your spouse, it's important to maintain at least one separate credit card account in your name should you need to leave your marriage.

Resolving joint asset issues

If you have a joint mortgage, car loan, or lease, you're both obligated to repay the lender – even if it's a car you never drove or a home you no longer reside in. You may find that your spouse will use these items as a means to contest the divorce, or cause other problems. For example, if you have joint credit cards, your spouse may run up the debt as a way to force you into agreements related to the house or any other asset of substantial value.

Regardless of how much faith you have in your marriage, it's important to consider the possibility that you'll need to get a divorce five, ten or even fifty years from now. View this advice as a way to protect yourself and your family from a difficult situation – not as an indication of any animosity in your relationship. In particular, something as simple as pre-nuptial agreement can be of immense help if you decide to end your marriage. If you're already married and don't have this type of agreement, there are several other steps you can take to protect your assets in the event of a divorce.