Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
Prenuptial
I have a son who is 25 years old and is getting married. My husband and I own a business and will be retiring soon. This son is not of blood but we took him to raise at ag 1 1/2 and was appointed his conservatory managers at that time. I have one other older son of blood. If we decide to sell the business and give our children a part of the sell, would my 25 year old need to have a prenuptial to protect his part of the monitary givings from his future wife. He changed his name to our last name, however, we never adopted him legally. He just elected to change his name before going into the Army to serve. We may not sale the business and the two boys may decide to remain in the business how will this effect the situation with his future income or possible sale later on?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Prenuptial
The answer to your question is -- it's just not that simple. Sorry!
If a person is given a gift before marriage, it is his separate property.
However, it is easy to co-mingle separate property thereby making it community property once a person is married. If the couple divorces, the burden is on the spouse claiming separate property to prove that it truly is his separate property. Detailed record keeping is required. I find that most people don't keep accurate records or they don't think they will ever divorce so everything gets joined together.
A pre-nuptical might be the solution.
However, the person with the separate property must keep detailed records and be able to prove that the separate property was never co-mingled to create a community property issue.
You need to consult with an attorney that specializes in family law.
You might also consider setting up a trust so that the son never actually takes possession of the asset. An attorney that does trusts is usually a probate attorney.
You are wise to do research now instead of waiting until it's too late.
Good luck!
Fran Brochstein
www.familylaw4u.com
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