Gribble v. Medcat Enters., (No. COA19-1092) (unpublished) In North Carolina, some issues can be settled with a pre- or post-marital agreement. This is a contract. In such contracts, spouses can agree to certain terms and conditions, as well as insert an Arbitration Clause. There are certain advantages to arbitration, such…
Dear Carolyn, My daughter is getting married next year. We have family business and my daughter works in the business. Is a premarital agreement appropriate for her, even though she is only 25? When should she bring this up with her fiancé? Carolyn Answers… Yes, a premarital agreement is…
Now let’s change the hypothetical of our Greensboro couple – Petunia and Rocky – in one respect. Recall that Petunia’s parents wanted her to have a premarital agreement regarding Home Grown Lawn Care, but Petunia and Rocky did not sign one. Maybe a few years into her marriage, Petunia realizes…
Now that we have the details and definitions out of the way, we can return to our Greensboro couple Rocky and Petunia and take a look at what happens to Petunia’s estate. Recall that Petunia died without a premarital agreement, without children, and without a will. Since Petunia died without…
Have you wondered how much of your estate is your spouse entitled? What happens to all of your assets when you die? Do you have much control over the disposition of your estate? Does having a will make a difference? To demonstrate the nuances involved in determining how much your surviving…
We previously discussed ways to protect gifted or inherited property from the claims of a child’s spouse, from the viewpoint of the parent making the transfers. It noted that the law already protects the amount of the gift or inheritance, plus any appreciation not caused by marital funds or efforts.…
The previous two posts on premarital agreements have addressed future spouses who are considering signing a premarital agreement. The final two posts in this series will address the future spouses’ parents. In particular, this post is directed at parents who have worked hard enough, and been fortunate enough, to accumulate…
A premarital agreement, of course, requires the consent of both future spouses. Sometimes future spouses will disagree about whether to sign a premarital agreement. The last post in this series considered this situation by addressing the spouse who wants an agreement. This post will consider the situation by addressing the…
The first few posts in this series discussed when prospective spouses should sign a premarital agreement. Simply stated, a premarital agreement should be signed when both parties want to apply different rules to divide their property and award support after the marriage than the law would otherwise provide. In a…
Previous posts regarding prenuptial agreements have discussed the validity of premarital agreements in very general terms, focusing on the broad concepts of procedural and substantive unfairness. Procedural unfairness creates a very real risk that the agreement might not be enforced. Substantive unfairness is not so important, but it can create…