Using Post-nuptial Agreements to Make the Most of Marital Mediation

The needs and goals of spouses change over time and professional assistance is often a good way to identify problems and find a better way forward. A relatively recent innovation for providing such assistance is marital mediation. While it doesn’t necessarily attack root causes of problems the way that therapy would, mediation attempts to find common ground and establish terms to help spouses fix immediate concerns. Led by a qualified, neutral third party, the mediation process can be useful whether the parties are in therapy or not.

Once you and your spouse, through mediation, have reached consensus on how to handle issues going forward, you can draft and execute a post-nuptial agreement to help you:

• Create a framework that reflects your current situation —Whether or not you have an existing agreement setting forth each side’s rights, a new post-nuptial agreement, developed with the assistance of a knowledgeable family lawyer, will provide a true, up-to-date perspective on the situation.
• Formalize agreements on relationship and financial issues — Hopefully, you and your partner made significant progress during your marital mediation. However, it’s easy to slip back into old habits and lose the momentum that was achieved during those important discussions. Coming together at the end of the mediation process to formalize the decisions you’ve made and to establish a means of holding both spouses accountable is a wise way to concretize the work you’ve done.
• Establish fair terms if the marriage ends — Marital mediation might be a turning point for a marriage that lasts a lifetime. Or it might bring the spouses’ disagreements to a head and eventually lead to divorce. By creating a post-nuptial agreement, parties can discuss how a potential divorce might be handled and establish terms concerning such matters as property distribution and alimony. Should the spouses decide to go their separate ways, the document they developed can assist in the transition to an uncontested divorce.

Working with a seasoned New York family law attorney can help ensure that the couple understands the terms and legal ramifications of the post-nuptial agreement.

Solutions Divorce Mediation in Dix Hills provides wide-ranging support to couples who seek assistance with post-nuptial agreements as well as separation and divorce terms. To schedule a free consultation with one of our Long Island mediators, please call 1.631.683.8172 or contact us online.