At the beginning of your relationship, the last thing on anyone’s mind is the relationship failing. You are happy and in love right now and surely nothing will ever change that. Yet, people and relationships do change. Some people’s love and commitment for each other grows stronger. While for others, they tire of being together and no longer have the feelings they had on the day they got married or moved in together.

When things go wrong and the relationship breaks down, stress ensues, and arguments seem unending. Most of the disagreements are about finances, who is getting what property, and how will the parenting arrangement work.

Now imagine, you could avoid all the stress, hassle, tension, and argumentation because everything has already been decided ages ago when you were happy and in love. Instead of arguing who is going to get the boat and who is going to get the sports car, you have already determined this long ago.

A marriage contract or cohabitation agreement allows parties to simply take what they are entitled to take, as spelled out in the contract. Granted, you may need to retain the services of a separation and divorce lawyer to enforce the contract or agreement. But life is clearly much simpler with a contract or cohabitation agreement!

Aside from making relationship breakdowns less stressful and complicated other reasons why you need a marriage contract or cohabitation agreement include:

• Reason #1: This is not your first marriage. You may have previous spousal and child support commitments that you can make sure continue without issue by including them in your contract or agreement.
• Reason #2: You want to protect investments, assets, and financial accounts that you obtained before getting married or cohabitating. Some people want to make sure that any wealth accumulated prior to the relationship is protected should the relationship fail.
• Reason #3: You have family heirlooms that you want to keep in your family. If you have jewelry, paintings, sculptures, or other valuable items that are passed down from one generation to the next, you will not have to worry about your ex getting them as part of the divorce or relationship breakdown.
• Reason #4: You and your loved one want to make sure, should the relationship fail, that there will be no unnecessary animosity. A contract can avoid contentious situations because there is simply less ambiguity, which reduces anger and bitterness.
• Reason #5: You and your loved one want to make getting a divorceless expensive if it occurs. Some couples include a separation and divorce agreement in their marriage contract that covers everything from the division of property to child custody and access and child support.  This can avoid the expensive and time-consuming litigation.

There are plenty of valid reasons for taking the time to get a marriage contract or cohabitation agreement with help from a qualified family law lawyer. For help creating your contract or agreement, please feel free to contact Davies Law Firm at (613) 688-0462 today!