Prenup?

[snapplegirl69]

I am located in MA.

I read somewhere that a person included in their prenup agreement that she will not be responsible for supporting her new husbands child from a previous marriage.

IE,they cant take into account her income when determining child support.

As far as I know in MA,they dont take into account a spouses income,but I would like to cover my behind..lol

My questions are:

1.Can i have a prenup with this on it and it uphold in court?

2.If not,how would a new spouse protect their income from being taken into consideration when a cp tries to raise child support other then not marrying?

Thank you

[socrateaser]

>My questions are:
>
>1.Can i have a prenup with this on it and it uphold in court?

Yes and no. You can state in your premarital agreement that all of the parties property shall remain separate, and that in the event that any jurisdiction orders support for a minor child of a previous relationship from the separate property of the other party, that that party is entitled to reimbursement in the event of a later dissolution of marriage.

However, you cannot simply say that one parent is not subjected to the obligation to support the other parent, because that issue is covered by the public policy of the jurisdiction where the original support order was made.

That is, if it was a legal duty that the other spouse support the minor child of their spouse from a previous relationship, at the time that judgment was originally entered for that support against the paying parent, then you cannot contract around that obligation, because you are voluntarily entering into a marriage in which you know that the other parent has a minor child, so you are subject to the law governing that prior relatioship and child.

I don't know what the specifics of MA law in this area, or what the judgment or state law was at the time that judgment of support was originally entered for the subject child, but whatever that judgment and law would have specified for the other parent at the time, is what you will be subject to now.

>2.If not,how would a new spouse protect their income from
>being taken into consideration when a cp tries to raise child
>support other then not marrying?

The only way you could protect yourself, other than not marrying, would be to put all of your money into an irrevocable trust in a jurisdiction that is extremely creditor averse (Nevada, or better Nevis-St. Kitts).

Frankly, I advise people who are considering marrying a person who has minor children subject to support, to wait until those children are all adults.

You can never know what the government will do in the future, or where you may live, or where the other minor child may move to, and the combination of all of those factors could conceivably destroy whatever protection you may have thought was ironclad.

Marriage in modern America is a very high stakes gamble. You have to weigh the risks vs. the benefits and then decide if it's worth the risk. If it is, then you jump in and never look back. Otherwise, don't jump.

[snapplegirl69]

Ok I am slightly confused.My fiancee and bm were never married.

So pretty much,my income would be counted if we married

[socrateaser]

>Ok I am slightly confused.My fiancee and bm were never
>married.
>
>So pretty much,my income would be counted if we married

Sorry. The issue is extremely complex and it's always being massaged by the States and Federal government under the guise of helping children.

Editorial: In reality, it's all about money, the feds avoiding welfare payments and the states getting dollar matching federal funds -- the children and parents are just pawns for politicians who don't want to face the reality that people have babies, they can't really stop themselves, and if they did, there wouldn't be any State or Federal government, because the population would just disappear.

OK, anyway, if you get married, there is almost always the possibility that your income and assets could be reached by the other parent to satisfy your husband's support obligations, in the event that he were, for example, severely disabled, such that he couldn't possibly work ever again. The court and the State would start looking at you as being legally responsible for your spouse's support, and derivatively, for his child's.

Courts are always inventing new law in these areas, once again, under the guise of helping children, which is why I'm dancing on the head of a pin.

At this instant in time, your income probably couldn't be reached. Tomorrow, I wouldn't bet on it.

[wendl]

Not an attorney nor do I know every states law.

When my dh went to court last they thought I was hiding money or something for my dh (we have NO joint accounts of any kind) they requested my bank records and they questioned on deposit I made every month into my acct (dh gave me xx amount for household bills)  they request my minor childs bank records as well (hahah only cs goes into that acct and I rarely get cs).

Be carefull when it comes to joint accounts and joint assests.  I was lucky I owned my home, and cars prior to getting married and never put my dh on the cars or house when we got married.

We have been together for almost 6yrs and still do not co-mingle anything.

It is hard to protect yourself when you marry someone with a child(ren) from previous relationships.

**These are my opinions, they are not legal advice**