Contracts help couples reduce pain of divorce

Nothing says "I love you" like a prenup.

Prenuptial agreements, those contracts a couple sign before their wedding date that outline who gets what in a divorce, are considered by many as a sign of distrust. But advocates say they can be useful, especially for people getting remarried.

Many people getting the agreements "went through a divorce and had to divide assets they didn't want to divide," Augusta divorce attorney Wade Padgett said. "And they don't want to have to do it again."

Historically, prenuptial agreements have been used by the wealthy to prevent a spouse from taking his or her money in a divorce.

For example, pop star Britney Spears, who is worth about $32 million, signed a prenuptial agreement limiting how much she would pay her backup-dancer husband, Kevin Federline, in a divorce.

Few young couples have such wealth, so most don't need one.

"If you have a couple in their 20s, they're going to create all their assets jointly," said Jesse Lewis, an Augusta psychologist and marriage counselor. "It's less financially relevant."

Divorces are one of the most traumatic experiences people can endure, so for people getting remarried, prenuptial agreements can offer financial and emotional security.

Dr. Lewis said these people do not view a prenuptial agreement as a sign of distrust, but as a way to gain peace of mind, especially among those who were "taken to the cleaners" by a past spouse.

"What the person is saying is, 'It's not that I have to protect myself from you. It's that I have to protect myself from the devastation I went through before,'" he said.

Prenuptial agreements also can ensure a person's assets go to his or her children from a previous marriage. Without one, a divorce or death could mean heirlooms or a family-owned business could leave the family.

And despite what a person might write in a will, widows can make a claim to their deceased spouses' assets in states including Georgia and South Carolina.

"They die thinking they've left their money to their children and in comes the surviving spouse," said Larry Broyles, an estate attorney on Davis Road.

Mr. Broyles estimated about 75 percent of contested wills involve spouses from a second marriage.

Still, few people actually go through the process of getting a prenuptial agreement. Mr. Padgett said he writes fewer than 10 a year, and Mr. Broyles said he writes only two or three.

For a prenuptial agreement to stand up in court, both spouses' financial information needs to be disclosed before signing, and the couple must agree on the financial expectations of each other, such as how much of the mortgage each will pay.

And if it seems one spouse was forced to sign, a judge can throw out the agreement.

Reach James Gallagher at (706) 823-3227 or james.gallagher@augustachronicle.com.