Episode 169: Prenups for a Healthy Marriage with Aaron Thomas

Everyone wants to avoid a messy divorce at all costs. If you are a business owner though, this can add a whole extra layer of complications. Many people think that prenups are just for couples with trust issues, what they don’t realize is that the right prenuptial agreement can set you up for how you manage your finances during the marriage, avoid a lot of conflict over time, and may even help you to save the marriage altogether.

Today we are joined by Aaron Thomas, a Harvard Law School graduate and the owner and founder of Aaron Thomas Law in Atlanta, Georgia. Aaron specializes in family law, where he represents clients in cases of divorce, custody, and child support. Despite his many courtroom successes and a long list of impressive awards, Aaron's proudest achievements are providing quality, empathetic services to his clients, who are often going through one of the toughest periods in their lives. 

Aaron is also known for his unique approach to pre-marital and post-marital agreements and is a firm believer that a prenup can actually help you stay married. Today he joins us to explain the ramifications of not having a written prenuptial agreement. To find out how marital property differs from separate property, how your business could become marital property without a prenup, how personal debt relates to marital property, and how to structure your accounts to avoid conflict, as well as many other valuable tips, tune in today! Whether you’re already married or not, this episode is for you!

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• How planning for his own wedding led Aaron in the direction of prenuptial agreements. 
• Why prenuptial agreements shouldn’t only address what happens in a divorce, but how your finances will be handled during the marriage itself.
• The number one thing engaged couples need to know: the difference between marital property and separate property. 
• How even if you don't have a written prenuptial agreement, you still have a prenuptial agreement based on the jurisdiction that you live in.  
• How your business could become marital property without a prenup.
• What a post-nuptial agreement is and why it may be beneficial to you if you are already married.
• Why unfair divorce settlements are so common. 
• The three principles that Aaron bases his prenuptial agreements on: transparency, communication, and fairness.
• How you can unknowingly transfer separate property into marital property.  
• How separate debt relates to marital property. 
• How you should structure your accounts so that a spender and a saver can have a good financial relationship.
• Other ways that a prenup can help a marriage remain intact. 
• Why Aaron often factors clauses about counseling into a prenuptial agreement. 
• How even if divorce does occur, the prenup helps mitigate some of the impact on the children.
• Aaron’s advice to engaged couples on how to broach the subject of a prenup.