How does a prenuptial agreement affect estate planning?

I am getting married soon and I am interested in understanding how a prenuptial agreement would affect my estate planning. I would like to know what steps I should take to ensure that my assets are protected and that my wishes are carried out after I pass away. I am also curious as to how a prenuptial agreement might affect the distribution of my assets to my family members and other beneficiaries.

Briana C.

ContractsCounsel verified

Business Lawyer

Licensed in California, Massachusetts, New York

Free Consultation

A prenuptial agreement does not create an estate plan. But it can do two things. First, a prenuptial agreement can create a contractual promise on the part of one or both spouses to do something in particular with their estate plan (such as promising to leave the marital home to the surviving spouse, or promising to leave everything they have to the surviving spouse, or promising to set up a trust, etc. etc.). If this contractual promise is broken, the surviving spouse has a contract claim against the estate of the dead spouse. Second, and almost the opposite, in a prenuptial agreement one or both spouses can waive the rights they would otherwise have by statute, thus freeing up the other spouse to do whatever he or she wants with her estate plan. Without a prenuptial agreement, a surviving spouse is entitled by statute to inherit a certain proportion of the estate of the dead spouse (the exact proportion depends on whether or not the dead spouse has a will, and/or has surviving children). The prenuptial agreement can override these statutory rights and provide that the surviving spouse is not entitled to inherit anything from the dead spouse, except for anything the dead spouse may choose to leave the surviving spouse in his or her will.