You know that you can use a prenuptial agreement to protect certain property rights. For example, perhaps you are a business owner and you want to make sure that you get to keep 100% of your business, even when your marriage ends. You can write that into a prenup so that there will not be any complications during the divorce.
But what if you are a parent? Maybe your main focus is not protecting assets, but protecting time with your children. Can you use your prenup to address child custody issues?
Custody rights cannot be included
Unfortunately, in your situation, this would not be a valid use of a prenuptial agreement. You cannot include child custody rights. They need to be determined by the court during the divorce process, based on a wide variety of factors, such as your child’s preference, your ability to care for the child, the parental roles you had during the marriage and much more.
The thing to remember about prenuptial agreements is that they do not address things like child custody, child support or other issues related to your children. They are just a way for you and your spouse to address asset division and property ownership. So if you are talking about tangible assets, real estate, businesses, homes or financial assets like investments or income, prenups can be very valuable. But you still have to handle child custody issues as the divorce process plays out.
If you have questions about your legal rights or your options, it can be helpful to work with an experienced law firm at this time.