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California Prenuptial Agreements ("Premarital Agreements")
Contact me at (650) 714-9439 or by email to schedule a free consultation* 345 Lorton Ave., Suite 201, Burlingame, CA 94010 (Directions & Parking) |
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By California statute, at least seven days must elapse between the time that the parties are “first presented” with the agreement and advised to seek independent counsel and the time the agreement is signed. In other words, if you decide to consult an attorney about drafting a prenuptial agreement five days before your wedding, you are too late. A conservative interpretation of the statute requires that once you have negotiated a final draft of the agreement (as opposed to simply delivering a rough draft of the agreement to your spouse), you must wait a further seven days before signing the agreement. What is required to make a California prenuptial agreement enforceable? For a California prenuptial agreement to be enforceable, several requirements must be met:
What happens if I file for divorce and I don't have a prenuptial agreement? If you are lucky, your spouse will agree to mediate your divorce, and you will enter into negotiations regarding the amount and duration of support, as well as the division of your assets and debts. If you are forced to litigate, you will likely expend a considerable sum on attorney's fees as you attempt to reach a settlement. Without a prenuptial agreement, you are subjecting yourself to the property division and support scheme created by the State of California. Why not retain control and make sensible decisions about how these issues should be handled before marriage? What types of issues can be addressed in a California prenuptial agreement? Prenuptial agreements range from fairly narrow (simply clarifying what separate property each party is bringing into the marriage) to very broad (waiving spousal support, limiting each spouse's right to the other's future income, and limiting each spouse's right to inherit from the other). During your consultation with an attorney, he or she will walk you through each of these possibilities. How much do you charge for a prenuptial agreement? In the majority of cases, I offer my clients a flat fee ranging from $4,000 to $8,500 to negotiate and draft a prenuptial agreement. On occasion it becomes evident during an initial consultation that a couple's financial situation is particularly complex and/or extensive negotiation will be required to arrive at a final draft, in which case I will suggest a different rate. In addition to drafting prenuptial agreements, I am also happy to sit with clients who have been presented with an agreement and explain the meaning of each provision. |
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*free divorce mediation consultation consultation provided if both spouses attend initial meeting
Drafting and reviewing California prenuptial agreements from my office in Burlingame for clients throughout California, including the greater San Francisco Bay Area: San Jose and the Peninsula and South Bay communities of Palo Alto, Los Altos, Sunnyvale, Portola Valley, Menlo Park, Atherton, Woodside, Redwood City, San Mateo, Saratoga, Cupertino, Santa Clara, Campbell, San Carlos, Los Gatos, Milpitas, and Half Moon Bay.
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