Create prenup in CA that waives wife's spousal rights to a man's financial assets during and after marriage?

Question

The girl in mind is equally interested in finding a real answer to this question. I consider myself an honest and generous person. If I gave someone a gift then I would not ask them to return it to me except under extreme circumstances. I don't plan to get married until I can figure out how to maintain control of my financial assets (including assets I acquire during a marriage) both *during* and after a marriage (if it ends in divorce). I heard that *during* a marriage a man must get a signature from his wife to buy real estate or to make changes to his living trust. I prefer not being required by law to get a signature from my wife to invest or make decisions with my own personal funds. Is it possible to create an iron-clad prenup in California (or another state) that waives the wife's spousal rights to any control over the man's financial assets during and after a marriage should it end in divorce?

Answer 1

No. She can contest anything. Do not get married until women wake up and start making an effort to change the unfair marriage/divorce laws here in California. It's not fair for the men, and it's no wonder a majority of the people here opt to co-habit and not get married.

Thank you femenism for ruining the family unit and making men even more committment phobic in America. Good job! Now, the divorce rate is higher than 50% and record number of babies are being born out of wedlock because of you.

Answer 2

It is impossible to create anything that prevents it from being argued about in the future. That being said, of course it is possible to create a document that comes pretty close to forclosing most arguments the other side can make at some point in the future.
The most important part is to have both sides represented by their own attorneys. That way no one can argue in the future they were forced into an agreement or that they did not understand what they were signing.
The second most important part is to be completely honest and upfront when creating the document. If you hide any assets the document will be open to attack in the future.
The question of whether or not a party can waive their right to spousal support in the future will vary from state to state. Remember the state's interest is making sure that a destitute ex-spouse doesn't become the state's responsibility. Most people probably do a gradual spousal support depending on the length of the marries. For example - you get no support if we divorce in the first two years, you get 3 years of support at X amount if we last 5 years...
The question of whether or not you need your wife's permission to dispose of separate assets is best addressed to a real estate lawyer who knows the ins and outs of such transactions. A short consultation would not cost very much and might put your mind at ease over your ability to control your own assets.
For men and women these days it is important to have financial security. As long as you go about it in an honest and open manner and your spouse-to-be understands and agrees with your positions you should be able to fashion exactly what you want.
Good Luck.

Answer 3

The principle behind California's community property laws is that when a woman leaves her occupation and joins with her man, she begins making a contribution to the partnership...and at the same time, takes herself out of the marketplace. She can no longer compete for wages, position, recognition, etc. The man, on the other hand, continues to compete and, hopefully, progress up the status ladder. If they then divorce, the man has reached a level of economic success. The woman, on the other hand, has been out of the competition for the length of the marriage and has little to trade for wages. So the community property laws say that everything earned after marriage is community property and is to be split. IF, your prospective spouse has a good job and wants to keep her job and anticipates moving upward in the competitive business world, perhaps she would agree that both of you keep your earnings separate. Under those circumstances, i believe you can have your agreement. Problems come up when you want to buy a house, make investments and so forth. To keep the pre-nup working and valid, each of you will need to see an attorney for independent legal advice each time you want to make a significant investment. But this is not legal advice...see an attorney who specializes in family law. Good luck.

Answer 4

no
1st off do not get married in CA
CA is semi hostel to pre nups
a high majority are thrown out
2 do not get married period
why risk you invnest porfolio and what you have earned for what???
there IS NO BENEFIT to geting married
NONE
you can have children
and if it does not work out you'll end up paying child support anyways
BTW after 10 year married mark in CA pre nups go out the window and she is considered your legally bound wife.. with LIFETIME alimony payment and 50% of community property should the marriage end after 10 years
its' why Tom Cruise dumped his ex right before the 10 year mark
it's why ANY man with any sort of wealth does the same
you correct about buying real estate
the only way around that is if she signs a quit claim deed giving you all the rights to the assest in question
but why buy during a marriage?
if you can afford it, do it before
set it up in a living trust ( revokeable ) and do NOT name her in the trust, keep in in your side of the family
problem is once you marry she may be able to attach the trust for her fair share in the event of death or divorce
hence why you shouldn't marry in the 1st place

BTW kudos to SAX M
he hit it right on the head
keep in mind women do not believe in equality
if thy did they happily sign any strict pre nup
but they do not like to
and even if they did they find a good lawyer who'll have it invalidated
they want the security to take 50% of your estate to compensate them for their time with you, because in the end they KNOW they are not equal
BTW divorce rate in CA is 65% is LA / Orange County so keep that in mind

Kudos to CV
though her language makes me think she is in the divorce biz

Answer 5

I wouldn't get married if I was you. You are using the words during and after...like a marriage has a beginning and an end. Why get married if you want a prenup? Just stay girlfriend and boyfriend. Your idea of marriage is totally messed up. It sounds like all you care about is money, and keeping your finances separate. How technical and unromantic is that??? If I was your gf/fiance I would run!!!

Answer 6

California is not the state for you. Unless you are 100% certain you wish to have children very soon do not get married as there is no benefit for men to do this.

Answer 7

Why bother getting married, if you're going into it with the expectation that it will fail??

Answer 8

Sweetie you don't need a wife...not now or ever with that attitude.