Can I Address Child Custody in My Prenuptial Agreement?

You may already share a child with your fiancé who you intend to marry soon. Or, you may intend to start a family soon after your wedding ceremony. In either case, you may want to know if you can or should include child custody provisions in your prenuptial agreement as an extra precautionary measure. Well, read on to discover the likeliness of this and how one of the seasoned Clarksville child custody lawyers at Fendley and Etson can help you in drafting and executing this document.

Am I able to address child custody in my prenuptial agreement?

It is unnecessary, rather discouraged, for you and your fiancé to include child custody provisions in your prenuptial agreement. This is because the Tennessee family court holds the authority to have the final say in the matter, therefore making child custody a topic that must be addressed at the time of the divorce.

Overall, the court makes its custody decision based on what it believes is in your child’s best interest. Now, it is highly probable that the court will not view your predetermined child custody arrangement to align with this. This may be especially true if you and your finacé undergo significant changes from when you initially signed the prenuptial agreement to when you file for divorce.

For example, you may have specified your desire to take primary custody of your child if you planned to step back from your career to raise your child. However, your financial situation may have changed, forcing you to return to your full-time position. This may lead the court to believe it is not in your child’s best interest to be under your primary custody if your work schedule is too demanding. What’s more, the court usually prefers a joint custody arrangement, as it is likely in your child’s best interest to maintain an equally stable relationship with both parents.

Can I address child support in my prenuptial agreement?

You must understand that a prenuptial agreement’s primary purpose is to have you and your fiancé cover financial matters before joining together in marriage. This mainly entails provisions for property division, along with waiving or limiting rights to future alimony.

However, the same cannot be done for child support. This is because, again, the Tennessee family court retains the ultimate authority to determine a child support arrangement based on applicable, enforced guidelines. Briefly, these guidelines are based on the income shares model, which is set as follows:

• Child support for one child: 21 percent of the supporting spouse’s income must be contributed.
• Support for two children: 32 percent of income.
• Support for three children: 41 percent of income.
• Support for four children: 46 percent of income.
• Support for five or more children: 50 percent or more of income.

At the end of the day, if you have any lingering doubts about your prenuptial agreement or upcoming divorce case, one of the competent Clarksville family lawyers can help relieve them. So whenever you are ready to get started, please reach out to Fendley and Etson.