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I am considering a prenuptial with my fiancee. First reason I want a
prenup is that I am going to earn 5-10 X more than she does ( I am a
surgeon). The second reason is I want to protect her (and our future
children) in case I am sued for malpractice and end up with a huge
liability. I read that one is liable to debts incurred by the spouse
while married. Will a prenup protect her more from such liability in
case I die?
Thanks
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"tomak72" <tomak_72@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:4tev21d32bc4kff4uftsgrjnuli6nvmne7@4ax.com:
I am considering a prenuptial with my fiancee. First reason I want a
prenup is that I am going to earn 5-10 X more than she does ( I am a
surgeon). The second reason is I want to protect her (and our future
children) in case I am sued for malpractice and end up with a huge
liability. I read that one is liable to debts incurred by the spouse
while married. Will a prenup protect her more from such liability in
case I die?
I'm not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. For a matter such as this,
you really need to consult a lawyer experienced in family law.
This may well vary from state to state, but in every state I'm familiar
with, any debts incurred while married are by definition "community
property," and you can't change that by signing a prenup. You may be able
to acheive what you want by forming a coporation or other business entity
for your medical practice, and use that to isolate your family from
responsibility for debts, lawsuits, etc. You really need good legal advice
to make sure that's all handled properly.
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tomak72 wrote:
I am considering a prenuptial with my fiancee. First reason I want a
prenup is that I am going to earn 5-10 X more than she does ( I am a
surgeon). The second reason is I want to protect her (and our future
children) in case I am sued for malpractice and end up with a huge
liability. I read that one is liable to debts incurred by the spouse
while married. Will a prenup protect her more from such liability in
case I die?
Marriage laws are State governed so my answer is general. Your State may
have a specific law which is contrary to my answer of: no.
You need to consult with an attorney who specializes in 'asset
protection'. He can set up a structure which will minimize your exposure
and that of your family.
I'm surprised that you haven't asked this of the attorney who is drawing
up your pre-nup. Don't even THINK of doing a pre-nup yourself.
-paul
ianal
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tomak72 wrote:
I am considering a prenuptial with my fiancee. First reason I want a
prenup is that I am going to earn 5-10 X more than she does ( I am a
surgeon). The second reason is I want to protect her (and our future
children) in case I am sued for malpractice and end up with a huge
liability. I read that one is liable to debts incurred by the spouse
while married. Will a prenup protect her more from such liability in
case I die?
Pretty much the same answer as one would give a lawyer who went to a
newsgroup to decide what sort of surgery they should have, how they
should prepare for it and what sort of post-op regimen should they follow.
--
Gerald Clough
"Nothing has any value, unless you know you can give it up."
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tomak72 wrote:
I am considering a prenuptial with my fiancee. First reason I want a
prenup is that I am going to earn 5-10 X more than she does ( I am a
surgeon). The second reason is I want to protect her (and our future
children) in case I am sued for malpractice and end up with a huge
liability. I read that one is liable to debts incurred by the spouse
while married. Will a prenup protect her more from such liability in
case I die?
Thanks
A prenup will not protect either of you from creditors of the other
spouse, if the debt was incurred while married. For example, most credit
card companies will be happy to give your spouse a large credit limit
entirely in your spouse's name based on your combined income (they refer
to it as "household income") without you even knowing about it, and you
will still be liable for paying off the credit card debt if your spouse
is unable to do so.
If you just want to protect both of you from malpractice (and other
types of civil) suites, put all your combined savings in an APT (Asset
Protection Trust), which is like an 401(K), but without the tax
benefits. This also allows you to specify that the funds in the APT
cannot be accessed without the consent of both spouses, protecting a
thrifty spouse from the spendethrift spouse. An APT will even survive
bankruptcy under the newly proposed bankruptcy code, however they cost
quite a bit to set up and are not offered in all states.
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On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 22:24:18 -0500, "tomak72" <tomak_72@yahoo.com>
wrote:
I am considering a prenuptial with my fiancee. First reason I want a
prenup is that I am going to earn 5-10 X more than she does ( I am a
surgeon). The second reason is I want to protect her (and our future
children) in case I am sued for malpractice and end up with a huge
liability. I read that one is liable to debts incurred by the spouse
while married. Will a prenup protect her more from such liability in
case I die?
Not necessarily, but this will depend on local law.
You will probably be better off with insurance. If you think that's
not enough protection, contact an attorney who does debtor-creditor
work and ask about setting up an asset protection scheme.
Daniel Reitman
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On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 21:23:34 -0500, "David W." <usenet@walc.com.pluto>
wrote:
. . . .
This may well vary from state to state, but in every state I'm familiar
with, any debts incurred while married are by definition "community
property," and you can't change that by signing a prenup. . . .
This is only the case in nine states (Arizona, California, Idaho,
Louisiana, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin).
Daniel Reitman
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(Corrected to remove additional quoted text. Sorry.)
Thomas Anantharaman wrote:
A prenup will not protect either of you from creditors of the other
spouse, if the debt was incurred while married. For example, most credit
card companies will be happy to give your spouse a large credit limit
entirely in your spouse's name based on your combined income (they refer
to it as "household income") without you even knowing about it, and you
will still be liable for paying off the credit card debt if your spouse
is unable to do so.
I believe that's only correct in community property states. The only
instances that I've heard of it happening in other states involve the
debtor spouse forging the other spouse's signature on the application.
--
This account is subject to a persistent MS Blaster and SWEN attack.
I think I've got the problem resolved, but, if you E-mail me
and it bounces, a second try might work.
However, please reply in newsgroup.
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