Pre marital agreements

fizzypish

Hi All,
Might not be exactly the correct forum but I think my querie is relevant.
I will be getting married next year and think its prudent to have some sort of pre marital agreement in place. Whats a good place to start? As I see it, for now we are both contributing pretty equally to the relationship, have no assets and have no plans for children. The reason an agreement comes to mind is 2 fold.
1. My own parents split up and while amicable, it may have been nicer if something had been written down beforehand. This weighs on me as despite the fact that I love my OH now, people do change.

2. Down the line I will inherit my family home with my sister. I imagine my sister will end up living there. If disaster happened and I had a bad break up I would not like a portion of my sisters home to be in the hands of someone else.


Call me paranoid.....
Anyway, I imagine I will need to deal with a solicitor to get something on paper but a few tips or must have points would be appreciated. I essentially want to protect both myself and my partner should either of us go off the rails (If I turn into a raving dickhead, I want her assets secure from me too).

Dial Hard

They're not legally recognised in Ireland so you're wasting your time.

fizzypish

Dial Hard wrote: »

They're not legally recognised in Ireland so you're wasting your time.

Your ****ting me. So there's nothing we can put in place? Odds on she will end up being more of the bread winner. Does that make any difference? Kids are fairly unlikely barring both of us have some kind of revelation. Sorry if this comes across as an idiot post but both of the scenarios mentioned above weigh on me a bit. I was hoping there was a way to mitigate the effects of one or both of us changing in a way that unpalatable.

Kristopherus

Dial Hard wrote: »

They're not legally recognised in Ireland so you're wasting your time.

Any chance you could give a little more detail?

Lackadaisical

Irish marriage law doesn't recognise prenuptial agreement and also after divorce, even if both parties had signed of and agreed on everything, you can still (at least in theory and you would genuinely want to have a VERY strong argument) take a case to court to reopen the financial aspects of it should circumstances change.

My general advice is, unless you're very very sure, don't get married.

Atlantic Dawn

If you are marrying someone and need such an agreement they are not the right person to be marrying.

Alf Veedersane

Kristopherus wrote: »

Any chance you could give a little more detail?

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/birth_family_relationships/getting_married/pre_nuptial_agreements.html

Lackadaisical

Basically what you're proposing there is that you'd have the basis for an agreed legal separation and divorce by consent already prepared before you got married?

That doesn't sound very romantic and would all be subject to negotiation, arbitration and whatever comes in in the upcoming changes to the divorce law anyway.

You cannot be forced to accept an inheritance, so re your parent's property you can just (AFAIK, but get confirmed) simply decline.

nthclare

Why fix something that's not already broken, I'm not going to drag down the thread with this that and all the variables...

If in doubt I wouldn't do it....

fizzypish

nthclare wrote: »

Why fix something that's not already broken, I'm not going to drag down the thread with this that and all the variables...

If in doubt I wouldn't do it....

I see what your saying and it makes sense. I know people change over time. I've changed dramatically over the last 2 years for the better. Who knows what happens in another 20 years. I was hoping to mitigate some of the financial problems that could arise for both of us. I'm not just thinking of insulating myself from my OH should things turn sour, I'm thinking in both directions. To be clear, I'm not in doubt about my OH or about her character.

fizzypish

fizzypish wrote: »

To be clear, I'm not in doubt about my OH or about her character.

Erm, you clearly are. If there was no doubt there would be no need to mitigate.

TimeToShine

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

If you are marrying someone and need such an agreement they are not the right person to be marrying.

Ridiculous, smart people know that things change, including people. You’d be the fool if you didn’t look into it beforehand.

TimeToShine

TimeToShine wrote: »

You’d be the fool if you didn’t look into it beforehand.

Why look into something that's not legally enforceable? May as well make a pinky promise.

TimeToShine

Deleted User wrote: »

Why look into something that's not legally enforceable? May as well make a pinky promise.

Once you find out that it's not legally enforceable then that's fair enough, the OP has done just that and fair play to him. People querying him for it are doing so unfairly.

Up Donegal

Lackadaisical wrote: »

Irish marriage law doesn't recognise prenuptial agreement and also after divorce, even if both parties had signed of and agreed on everything, you can still (at least in theory and you would genuinely want to have a VERY strong argument) take a case to court to reopen the financial aspects of it should circumstances change.

My general advice is, unless you're very very sure, don't get married.

Yes.