Prenuptial Agreements

     A prenuptial agreement, also called a pre-marital or ante-nuptial agreement, allows two people contemplating marriage to determine their own financial relationship in the marriage, thus avoiding the automatic rules that New York law imposes upon married couples.  A domestic partner agreement defines the financial relationship of an unmarried couple and a marital agreement redefines the financial relationship of a married couple who do not wish to separate.
 
     New York considers marriage an economic partnership and the law has developed default rules for this partnership.  Unmarried couples have a different set of default rules that may apply to their jointly owned property.  Most people have only the smallest idea of what these default rules are until their emotions run high.  The time to determine what rules you want to apply to your partnership is before you experience any difficulties in your relationship.    

     Jane can act as a neutral mediator for both of you, or she can be your attorney negotiating with your partner to allow you to define your own financial relationship, independently of New York’s default rules.  Mediation is billed on an hourly basis, payable after each session.  The rates for representing you in negotiations vary.  Call for a current fee schedule.