Prenups aren't just for the rich and famous. Family law attorney Theresa Viera explains how to talk about it with your partner and decide whether it's right for you. This episode originally published August 31, 2023. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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Hey, everybody, it's Marielle.
When you get married, there's so many details to figure out, everything about the wedding.
Also, is anybody changing their last name?
Are you moving in together for the first time or moving into a house?
In the new house, will you display that horrible talking animatronic fish or creepy porcelain doll that your fiance inexplicably loves?
Amidst these very important decisions, Theresa Vieira would like you to spare a moment to think about a prenup.
And it's always fascinating to me because people take this really big step forward, and hopefully it's in the name of love and considering each other's needs.
But it also has legal implications.
Theresa is an attorney at Modern Legal, a family law firm based in North Carolina.
A prenup or prenuptial agreement, premarital agreement, is a legal contract between soon to be spouses that lays out how they'll deal with money during a marriage and if it happens after a divorce.
And these are not just for the rich and famous.
Your prenup can address whether you'll have a joint bank account or have separate ones, whether you'll pay off your student loans separately or together.
Also, who gets what if you divorce?
If you get married and you don't have an agreement stating how your finances, your property, your debts are organized during the marriage, then the state laws would apply.
And so every state is a little different, but it basically allows the couple themselves to decide those issues versus the state's laws applying.