Tag Archives: marriage

Considerations in Establishing Prenuptial Agreements

Personal Financial • Tags: , , ,

Considerations in Establishing
Prenuptial Agreements

Family Money

Here are responses from five attorneys sharing some experiences with prenuptial agreements.Many thanks for their time and thoughtful answers to the following questions.

  • William J. Butler, McDermott, Will & Emery (Chicago, Illinois)
  • Leon M. Cooper, Lewis, D’Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard (Los Angeles, California)
  • Jon J. Gallo, Greenberg, Glusker, Fields, Claman & Machtinger (Los Angeles, California)
  • Judith V. Gordon, Gray, Cary Ware & Freidenrich (Palo Alto, California)
  • David W. Mitchell, Hoge, Fenton, Jones & Appel, Inc. (San Jose, California)

1. Do you typically discuss the emotional aspectsassociated with a prenuptial agreement with your clients?

Butler:Yes.I want my client to understand that the negotiation and execution of a prenuptial agreement may cause hard feelings between the parties that may linger for years to come.  More…

Antenuptial Policies: An Important and Delicate Subject

Personal Financial • Tags: , , ,

Antenuptial Policies:
An Important and Delicate Subject

Family Money
by Steve Swartz

The subject of antenuptial agreements is clearly one of the “unspoken issues” related to family wealth.The courtship and commitment stage of a relationship is fueled by feelings of intimacy and optimism, with thoughts about the material realm well in the background.Yet, when there is a family business or family wealth, it is necessary to deal with this important and delicate businesses and interpersonal issue, a prime example of the overlap of love and money.

A surprisingly large percentage of the accumulated wealth in the United States resides in ongoing family businesses, or in family offices managing theproceeds from the sale of such businesses.Although often “invisible” to those on the outside, it is estimated that approximately 95% of all U.S. businesses are family owned, producing about 50% of the Gross Domestic Product. More…