How do you protect assets that you bring into a marriage?
James: Hi Mr. Olsen. So I have two part question,
Attorney Tom Olsen: All right.
James: I'm looking to get remarried, and I'm wondering one, how do I protect any of the assets that I bring in to the marriage from anything that may come out of shadows from her past. And two, how does this effect the execution of my will, that if I pass away, I have everything being--going down to my children as taking ownership?
Attorney Tom Olsen: So James, I want to make sure I understand part one to your question but it seems to me that you're indicating that, “Hey, you get married to her, she's got some creditors from the back where she owed money to people, could her creditors come after your assets?” The answer is, “No.” Her creditors can only go after her assets.
Now James, the other thing I thought you might be talking about is how do you protect your assets in case you got divorced down the road, and James the way to do that is the way prenuptial agreement.
Now James, the other thing you brought up is this, is that here in the state of Florida by the very fact of being married, your spouse is now entitled to at least 30% of your estate. So James, if you got married and now you've got a will or had a will that says, "When I die, leave everything to my children.", your new wife could step in and say, “I don't care what his will says, I want what I'm entitled to,” and that's 30% of everything. The way around that as well James is a prenuptial agreement.