There are a variety of reasons that a couple contemplating marriage would want to enter into a pre-nuptial agreement. When a couple gets married without signing such an agreement, the ownership of their property and division thereof in the event of a divorce would be subject to state statute governing marriage in the state in which the couple resides. A pre-nuptial agreement is a contract between the parties intending to designate property and the possible distribution thereof differently than it would be otherwise by deemed by default under state statute. Sometimes such an agreement is entered into because one spouse or another has a significant amount of wealth that they want to except from becoming "marital" property. Other times, the parties are entering into a second marriage and a spouse desires to protect assets for ultimate distribution to his or her children from a prior marriage. Whatever the reason, this very important document can be critical for protecting assets from becoming joint property upon marriage pursuant to statutory law and well as pre-determining the rights of the parties in the event the marriage is later dissolved. Accordingly, the signing of these agreements are often fraught with strong emotion, as people consider the legal implications of dissolving their union just as they are preparing to commit to spend their lives together. Cotler Law LLC is sensitive to the emotional issues that often surround the execution of these agreements while at the same time cognizant that this agreement is about carefully planning for and anticipating every possible future eventuality.