SHOW DESCRIPTION

Millennial women are marrying later than any other previous generation of women. In 1965, the average marrying age for women was 21, and for men, it was 23. Today, the average marrying age for women is  29.2 and 30.9 for men.

Millennial women are citing career and financial stability as the main reasons for delaying marriage until their thirties. This means that Millennial women are entering into marriage with more STUFF than previous generations of women (i.e. homes, retirement accounts, cars, pensions, dogs…etc.) and we need to learn how to protect our ASSets in marriage and more importantly divorce.

This week, join Syd for Season 3 Episode 5 Love Can Cost Everything: How to Navigate Prenups, Postnups and Marital Assets, as she sits down with family law attorney, Jephonne Roy, Esq. for an educational and entertaining conversation on how to navigate the business of marriage.

Attorney Jephonne Roy is a Senior Associate Attorney at The Family Matters Law Group in Morrow, Georgia and specializes her practice on divorce, child custody, pre-nups, post nups and the equitable distribution of marital assets.

Want to connect with Jephonne?

Follow her on IG at: @familymatterslaw

Visit her firm’s website: www.thefamilymatterslaw.com

Follow her firm on Facebook: Family Matters Law Group, PC

SHOW NOTES

What is the legal definition of marriage?

Marriage is a binding legal contract entered into by two parties who have signed a marriage license.

What effect does marriage have on your personal property?

Whatever you have acquired during the course of the marriage, becomes marital property and marital assets that are owned jointly by both persons bound by the marriage. Entering a marriage is very similar to forming a business partnership with another individual an divorce is essentially a dissolution of the ‘marital business.’

How do we keep our assets separate during marriage?

To keep assets separate and protected during marriage without a prenup or postnup, do not allow your spouse to help in ANY CAPACITY with the maintenance of YOUR assets. That means do not allow them to make any payments, improvements or modifications on any of your assets. Do not allow your spouse to fix a smoke detector in a rental property that you may own if you want to keep it from being a marital asset. The same goes for any property your spouse may own that you either want to keep separate or make a marital asset 

What is alimony?

Alimony (also known as spousal support) are payments made from one party to the other party pending divorce or after divorce as financial support for a partner who may need it. In Georgia, the courts consider two things in determining whether or not to award alimony: (1) A party’s need to receive financial support; and (2) the other party’s ability to provide financial support.

Is there anything that might prevent you from receiving alimony?

In Georgia, the only thing that may prevent you from receiving alimony is infidelity (cheating). 

What is a prenup?

A prenup is an agreement entered into before marriage that outlines what you plan to do with your bank accounts, houses, stock, retirement accounts…etc. in the event of divorce.

How do we make sure our prenup is “ironclad?”

You want to make sure that your prenup takes a 360 approach to protection. This means that you want it to say something like, “Anything I owned prior to the marriage will remain mine in the event of divorce even if my spouse helps to pay for it, contributes to it, improves upon it, aids in the upkeep of it…etc.”

What about contribution to debts or liabilities in a marriage? Can I inherit debt in a marriage or divorce?

If the debt is acquired jointly and held in both parties names, then each party will be responsible for paying the debt equally in divorce. If, however, you make payments on a spouse’s debts during the marriage then those payments will be considered gifts that you will not be able to get back, but you also will not be liable for continued payment of the debt in the event of divorce.

What is the biggest financial mistake couples make in marriage and/or divorce?

The biggest financial mistake people make in marriage is living beyond their means. So when it’s time to divorce, neither can individually afford to carry the financial burdens acquired during the marriage.

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