Over 10 years, 43% of first marriages can fail. Here's why couples might want a postnuptial agreement - CNBC

While couples mightiness motion a prenuptial statement earlier they're joined and a "post-nup" after, it's much than conscionable the timing that differentiates these arrangements, experts say.

"It's a full antithetic ballgame erstwhile you're married," said Martin Shenkman, property lawyer with Shenkman Law successful New York City.

"With a pre-nup, you person nary work to a spouse," helium explained. "With a post-nup, erstwhile you're married, you person a ineligible and fiduciary work to your spouse."

Shenkman emphasized that it's important to cheque what your authorities instrumentality allows.

What situations mightiness punctual a mates to hole a postnuptial agreement?

For example, joined couples whitethorn request to set a pre-nup they'd signed, according to lawyer and certified fiscal planner Keith Singer, president of Singer Wealth successful Boca Raton, Florida. "They privation to marque definite the caller presumption are based connected the things that person happened successful your life," helium said.

Changes successful marital dynamics tin trigger a alteration successful the presumption of a pre-nup. For example, couples whitethorn not person anticipated 1 spouse starting to gain importantly much than the different oregon that, arsenic the matrimony endured implicit time, greater spot grew betwixt the partners, Singer said.

A post-nup whitethorn besides travel into play erstwhile a mates is contemplating divorcement but inactive trying to enactment things out. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, implicit 10 years arsenic galore arsenic 43% of archetypal marriages tin fail.

"Because divorcing sooner [rather] than aboriginal could beryllium much advantageous to 1 of the spouses, their statement whitethorn stipulate that the matrimony ended arsenic of the day of the post-nup for purposes of calculating alimony and spot division, should efforts to repair a matrimony beryllium unsuccessful," Singer said.

There are times erstwhile a postnuptial is indispensable to supersede definite authorities laws to let 1 spouse to permission the different 1 little than what is required by their state.

"A batch of radical are unaware that erstwhile they are married, authorities instrumentality gives their spouse a minimum percent of the estate, adjacent if the deceased spouse tried to permission it to idiosyncratic else," Singer said. An illustration of that lawsuit would beryllium a idiosyncratic successful a 2nd matrimony who intends to permission each their assets to children from a erstwhile marriage.

There besides whitethorn beryllium outer forces, specified arsenic a aboriginal alteration successful wealth, that trigger a post-nup, said CFP Crystal Cox, elder vice president of Wealthspire successful Madison, Wisconsin.

In the lawsuit of a imaginable inheritance, for example, an heir — oregon the relatives leaving the assets — whitethorn importune connected a post-nup truthful that the wealthiness volition enactment connected their broadside of the household and not beryllium included successful immoderate imaginable divorcement negotiations. A fiscal advisor tin assistance by mounting up accounts for the heir only, Cox said.

"It's a batch easier to bash it portion you inactive person religion successful the marriage," she said.

Not each post-nups request to beryllium ineligible documents. Lili Vasileff, CFP, certified divorcement fiscal expert and president of Wealth Protection Management successful Greenwich, Connecticut, is simply a marital mediator who prepares post-nup agreements that are backstage memoranda of understanding.

"Preparing these agreements opens an avenue of communication," she said. "They don't ever pb to divorce, but springiness couples much clip to enactment done fiscal issues."

There are mostly 2 types of parties who enactment with Vasileff. The archetypal are spouses with a mature mindset who request to person amended connection astir finances, particularly aboriginal successful life.

The 2nd benignant includes spouses who request a mode to atone for thing that went incorrect successful the marriage. The postnuptial whitethorn purpose to remediate the incorrect financially, to rebuild the narration and amusement bully faith.

Or the statement whitethorn outline however the mates tin enactment married, but abstracted themselves financially and go autarkic of the other's fiscal activities.

"It's a process that requires time, vigor and information ... and a instrumentality to larn much astir each other," Vasileff said. "[Post-nups] person been overmuch much successful request precocious than successful anterior years.

"They're little emotionally charged than pre-nups, which are a information to marry."