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Will You Marry Me. . . and Sign This Prenup?

Chantale Suttle • May 9, 2024
A bride in a wedding gown puts her head in her hands and appears distressed.

Your partner has just asked you to sign the draft of the prenup that's sitting in your inbox. 


But you don't speak legalese, and you don't know what the law truly is designed to confer on you as a spouse. Plus, you simply want a fair prenuptial agreement.


Or maybe you are a lawyer, but the emotions make clearheaded reading impossible; after all, the thought of a divorce lawyer’s bill is terrifying.

 

We offer the most basic level of representation: the review of the prenup draft that you received from your partner.

 

To help clients seeking a review by a family law attorney, we first focus on helping them to understand the key considerations for a prenup draft and to avoid common misconceptions. We follow a proprietary process developed by JustPrenups' Florida family lawyers and mediators who also have a background as educators and as a mental health professional. You can learn more about our approach through booking with us here.

 

Before proceeding, let's clarify our services. JustPrenups offers clients different avenues to achieve the same goal: mediation and representation. You can compare the two side by side here. Briefly, here's the "tl;dr" version: 

 

  1. In mediation, JustPrenups commits to neutrality as mediators who work with both partners in accordance with the Florida statute governing mediators [outside link to this]. 

 

  1. In representation, JustPrenups commits to advocacy for, and loyalty to, only one member of the couple. That's the essence of the traditional lawyer-client relationship.


Some people might sign the prenup draft right away without a second thought; after all, Snookums is asking you to do something. 

 

But even in the best circumstances, you have to plan for the worst circumstances.


That's where your lawyer becomes a new pair of eyes to see not only through the legal lens, but to read your prenup draft as an outsider who is not emotionally invested in any outcome - except the best for you. 

 

We see the plight of many review clients: they are often under pressure, and that's why JustPrenups holds appointment spots for them. We hold only two appointment spots per business day for these free consultations.


As with any prenup, time is of the essence not only for your wedding planning, but also for the divorce judge who may toss your prenup because the receiving partner did not get adequate time to comprehend the prenup's consequences and/or to seek legal or tax advice before signing. 

 

What Can Our Review Service Do for You?


In our review service, we help you to identify how your prenup can be a great planning tool for *your* wealth protection and future security. We also discuss clauses to assist with your emotional well-being. 

 

We identify the ways that the prenup draft is enabling your own personal goals. But most importantly, we spot where the prenup may not protect you or adequately cover your needs into the future. 

 

 

 

 

 The best prenup offers

optimal financial planning

for BOTH partners.


 

 

 

 

For example, we believe that all prenups should have more sophisticated clauses that cover an especially vulnerable time for a divorce in a couple's life: divorce during pregnancy, because sometimes the most unexpected things can happen to expecting moms and dads. 

 

We don't simply tell you what's "bad" about the draft that you received. We explain how pragmatic language can yield big differences in your future finances and in your emotional health.

 

When a prenup review is effective, the results put both partners on more solid ground. Our overall goal is more trust and less anxiety. 


Your First Appointment

 

At your first appointment with us after payment and retention, you can expect to describe what would be ideal for you. We do our best to help you translate your "ideal" into a  shared reality with your partner, word by word, in your prenup. 

 

And remember: when you revise the prenup that your partner presented to you, each revision is a GOOD thing. Your revision shows your voluntary participation in the process and your will to shape a desirable outcome. Revisions also can be a merit badge of teamwork.

 

For the review service, you take our verbal and written assessment with you. We do not rope you into representation at an hourly rate from start to completion of the prenup. We parse services so that you are getting exactly what you want. As a result, this service is priced affordably so that soon-to-be brides and grooms can access the advice and direction they most need at a critical time. 

 

However, if you do wish for us to draft your prenup from the ground up, or to re-draft via revisions to an existing draft, we can offer a drafting package best suited to you (and your business, if needed), including disclosure and presentation to your fiancé’s/fiancée’s attorney. In this capacity, your JustPrenups attorney will work with the attorney for your fiancé/fiancée until there is a mutually agreeable draft that is compliant with updates to divorce and alimony laws.

 

JustPrenups is highly aware that effective legal representation for a prenup shouldn't poison the well of your relationship. We aim to foster helpful, congenial relations with the attorney for your fiancé/fiancée so that the tone remains as non-adversarial as possible. That's not only good for your wallet, but also good for your home life


We help clients from all over the state of Florida with service locations in Clearwater, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Naples, Orlando, Tampa, and West Palm Beach. No matter where you are, our online meetings keep life simple and convenient.


Your current self-care choices may determine your future worth and health after a divorce. Finish this form to schedule your free online consultation with us.

 

Warning: Hello there, your prenup’s content and the process used in its creation are both evaluated by your family law judge if you and your partner divorce. Your judge may consider tossing your prenup if you observed poor practices in your drafting, disclosure, and signature processes because you decided not to use pros at prenups and postnups.

Disclaimer: All posts on this website contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client or mediator-client relationship between the reader and JustPrenups.


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By 7107328235 March 27, 2025
A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can save your business. Consider two dry cleaners, Ricky and Fred. Both thought they would be married to their wives until “death do they part.” Unfortunately, they both ended up divorced. Ricky walked out of divorce court personally and professionally ruined. Fred, while emotionally drained, was able to maintain and grow his successful business. Why the different outcomes? Ricky’s Story Ricky owned a dry cleaning business with Lucy, his wife of 19 years. Ricky was in charge of all aspects of the business, but Lucy did manage the company’s payroll and vendors part-time. Occasionally, she worked the front counter. For the most part, Lucy raised the children and cared for her elderly parents. When they decided to divorce, Ricky and Lucy were still civil and wanted their divorce to be amicable. Ricky and Lucy worked together, without lawyers, to craft a plan for sharing time with their teenage sons, and for sharing the family’s expenses. They also agreed to sell their house after their youngest son graduated high school. After a few months, and at the urging of a well-intentioned friend, Lucy hired a lawyer to write up the couples’ plan. Lucy’s main goal was to make sure the divorce ended fairly for her children. The lawyer, however, believed that since any small business owner could hide income, assets, or a company’s true value, then Ricky must be doing that too. Even though Lucy had a base of knowledge of the business’s finances, she trusted her lawyer and figured that he knew better. So, she agreed to his “scorched earth” strategy to protect her children. What is a “scorched earth strategy”? This is a common tactic to squeeze a business owner into a large and early settlement. The lawyer hires an accountant, and they go after every scrap of information and document pertaining to the company’s assets and liabilities, and they question it all—every argument and angle of attack is fair game. Much of the cost of providing the information and documents, and defending business decisions, must be paid by the business. Scared and desperate, Ricky lawyered up too. Unfortunately, Ricky’s lawyer couldn’t advise him on the settlement terms proposed by Lucy’s lawyer without conducting his own analysis of the company’s voluminous records. Much of the paper work involved in operating a dry cleaning business was foreign to him, and the stringent environmental regulations and reporting was overwhelming. Ricky’s lawyer had to hire his own accountant to help value the business for the divorce. Ricky and Lucy were now far from civil with one another, and the mud began to fly. Faced with dueling accountants, complicated and conflicting arguments about the business’s finances and value, and accusations against Ricky of financial wrongdoing, the family court judge appointed an independent forensic accountant to advise the court. The independent accountant saw that the business, which was the couple’s biggest asset, was crumbling because the ugly divorce was keeping Ricky from focusing on the business. The accountant was also worried about the accusations of financial wrongdoing by Ricky. So, on the independent accountant’s recommendation, the court appointed a receiver to operate and protect the dry cleaning business. Ricky and Lucy were now paying six different professionals, and trial was still months away. The receiver discovered that the company’s records did not comply with dry cleaning waste disposal regulations, and reported the non-compliance to government authorities. Ricky and Lucy blamed each other for the missing paperwork, and the sour relationship between them stalled and ultimately prevented joint efforts at an amnesty program and damage control. The business began to accrue daily statutory fines, employees were laid off, debts mounted, and the business eventually shut its doors while Ricky and Lucy continued to fight in divorce court. A year later, with no business to provide income for Ricky or Lucy, Ricky agreed to settle by paying Lucy more than half of his share of the house. Lucy accepted the offer, even though it was smaller then what she expected originally, because her share of the house was pledged to pay her lawyer’s fees. Fred’s Story Fred was married to Ethel for 22 years, and they have a daughter. Like Ricky and Lucy, Fred ran the business while Ethel was involved part-time in just certain aspects. But unlike Ricky and Lucy, when Fred bought his dry cleaning business nine years earlier, Fred and Ethel signed a postnuptial agreement to protect each other in case of divorce. The attorney-drafted agreement laid out a strict structure for evaluating and dividing the business, and for determining Fred’s true income for spousal and child support calculations. It identified and limited the financial information and documents that the business would have to disclose. It also required that the couple use a single neutral accountant (who would be paid from marital property and not by the company), to gather and evaluate that financial information and documentation. Early in the divorce, Ethel agreed that the postnuptial agreement was valid. She waived any right to ask the court to force the company to disclose more information or documents than described in the postnuptial agreement. This entitled Ethel to an immediate, fair, and higher award of support, thanks to a provision that she and Fred put in the agreement to encourage a quick resolution. Within a month, Fred and Ethel’s divorce was finalized, with minimal attorneys’ and accountant fees, and with no interference or intrusion into the dry cleaning business or operations. How could two similarly situated businesses and families leave divorce court with such different results? The first story is horrifying, but exceedingly common. Many states have onerous disclosure requirements that unnecessarily burden the time and finances of a small business. Unscrupulous divorce lawyers are trained to hone in and target a business owner’s fear of having the business’s confidential and financial information exposed to the world, to induce an early and usually unfair settlement. Fair and careful divorce lawyers will also want extensive company records, because they fear being liable for giving bad advice if they make recommendations without investigating the whole picture themselves. Either way, good lawyer or a bad one, smart judge or not, a case involving a small business can be very costly. The best way to avoid being a Ricky, is to get a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement like Fred. A good prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can render the most intrusive and damaging financial disclosures unnecessary, and can limit or attribute the related costs away from the business. In some situations, as shown above, they can save the business itself. If Ricky had a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement in place, maybe a receiver would not have been necessary, and Ricky and Lucy could have resolved the business’s regulatory problems confidentially without going out of business. Ricky and Fred were not wrong to believe in their marriages. A life-long commitment is not fanciful; it is a hopeful and beautiful goal. Most couples think they will reach that goal and that other couples will fill our country’s depressing divorce statistics. But consider this, we buy life insurance, install security systems, and wear seat belts “just in case.” They give us security even if we think that odds will always be in our favor. A careful and thorough prenuptial or postnuptial agreement can provide you, your spouse, and your business with security that all will be protected in a divorce, and that years of building a life and a business will not be burned to the ground. Chantale Suttle is the Managing Attorney and Founder of DADvocacy™ Law Firm, which is headquartered in Miami, Florida. She has been in the exclusive practice of family law for over 21 years and has served countless small business owners in divorce court. Drafting prenuptial and postnuptial agreements for small business owners is her favorite work.
A couple sits on a bench as one person reaches out to the other who is turned away.
By 7107328235 January 15, 2025
Your fiancé or fiancée presented you with a prenuptial draft: will you sign it before you hear wedding bells? Now you need a review by an attorney to ensure that your assets and your future security are protected: welcome to JustPrenups' prenup review! JustPrenups now offers UPLOADR: quickly share your prenup draft easily from any device in multiples format through UPLOADR on our site - no scanning, no email. Once we receive your prenup draft, an attorney examines the prenup that you received and then meets with you for a free consultation on Zoom. We hold your document and its data in confidence, even if you don't retain us, per our ethical requirements.
A couple walks along a Florida beach by the water in sunshine.
By 7107328235 December 26, 2024
Florida is a quirky place full of contrasts, and so is its family law. In particular, recent updates to Florida family law have changed the rules for alimony in Florida prenups. If your prenuptial agreement doesn't follow these changed rules, your prenup may not be valid and enforceable; as a result, you may be facing high financial stakes in divorce litigation that may put your assets at risk.
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