Postnuptial Agreements Becoming More Popular
WGCL Atlanta Channel 46
ATLANTA – Postnuptial agreements are becoming more commonplace, several Atlanta lawyers said.
A postnuptial agreement involves asking your spouse, after you are married, to sign a document spelling out what happens to your assets if you divorce.
Jimmy Baron, a former on-air voice for radio station 99X, said he originally wanted a prenuptial, but ended up settling on a postnuptial agreement.
“For us it started as a prenuptial,” Baron said. “And because I was scared of my fiancée, I didn’t bring it up until too late.”
The wedding went on without the prenuptial agreement, but Baron said he didn’t give up and hired a family lawyer, Randall Kessler, to negotiate the agreement.
“I got married when I was 41. By the time a lot of guys are that age they accumulated a certain amount, and have a house or some savings and it just makes sense.
Baron’s wife hired a lawyer of her own and they reached an agreement.
“Everybody wants to think it’s going to ruin the magic of the marriage, but it doesn’t ruin anything,” Baron said. “If anything, it makes you feel better. It makes me feel more secure knowing that.”
It is not always that easy getting the person you married to agree to a postnuptial, but they can also be useful when there are inheritance issues or infidelity.
“A person who’s afraid to try again says, ‘I need some security,'” Kessler said. “How about this? Let’s sign a document that says if we get divorced, this is what’s going to happen.”
Baron said he was not dealing with that kind of situation, just taking what he saw as a necessary step in an uncertain world.
“My fiancée, she totally got it,” Barron said. “If she didn’t, maybe she’s not the right one. But she’s very smart.”
Barron said he and his wife are happily married and recently had a son.