Engaging is a major thing, both personally and legally. Learn more about how your rights may change if you get married.
What you will discover:
Does a marriage change my legal rights?
Is it important if a Prenuptial Agreement is entered before or after the engagement?
What should a Prenuptial Agreement include?
Can I marry before my divorce is finalized?
How does a marriage effect my legal standing if I want to become a citizen of the United States?
Is my legal or financial situation affected by the fact that I am engaged to be married?
Being engaged to be married is a significant life event. Along with informing friends and family, you will most likely need to start arranging a wedding. Before you begin, you should become acquainted with the legal changes that accompany marriage and potentially even engagement.
Table of Contents
Does a marriage change my legal rights?
Simply becoming engaged to marry does not impact your legal rights. Legally, becoming engaged is similar to signing a Partnership Agreement with your fiancée. You may be compelled to sign contracts while you prepare your wedding and may be held liable for agreements you both sign.
Furthermore, being engaged does not provide you the same privileges as getting married, and it typically has no effect on your legal standing. There are a few exceptions to this general rule, each of which pertains to a unique component of certain battles.
The engagement ring: Many couples question what would happen to the engagement ring if one of the parties called it off. Because the answer differs by state, you may want to clarify your expectations upfront if you want to offer a family treasure as an engagement ring. In certain places, an engagement ring fits all of the criteria for a gift, and the receiver is allowed to retain it whether or not the marriage occurs. In some places, an engagement ring is considered a conditional gift, thus if the couple divorces before marriage, the jewelry must be returned.
If one of the pair is not a U.S. citizen, being engaged may allow them to obtain a fiancée visa and reside in the United States. This is covered in further depth in the section on legal status below.
Prenuptial Agreements: If you elect to engage into a Prenuptial Agreement, this legal document must be completed before you marry.
Is it important if a Prenuptial Agreement is entered before or after the engagement?
The majority of couples who sign into a Prenuptial Agreement do so when they are engaged to be married. In certain cases, couples may opt to negotiate some aspects of a Prenuptial Agreement before they become engaged. In the end, whether a prenup is signed before or after a formal engagement, the provisions of the contract will take effect after the pair marries. What matters is whether you have enough time before getting married to create and execute a prenuptial agreement. If you attempt to do this too soon to your wedding day and one of the parties does not have enough time to seek legal counsel or feels forced, the agreement may be deemed invalid.
Check each thing off your legal must-do list for engaged couples and know how much time to provide for each item before the big day. If there is insufficient time to engage into a Prenuptial Agreement, you may want to explore a Postnuptial Agreement, which you would sign after the marriage has started. In this case, you should speak with a lawyer to ensure that you are not giving up any important legal rights.
What should a Prenuptial Agreement include?
When you marry, your legal rights alter dramatically. When creating a Prenuptial Agreement, you and your prospective spouse may wish to address a variety of financial and property-related issues. Before making a final choice, weigh the benefits and drawbacks of signing a prenup, as well as the consequences of not having one. Here are some basic factors to consider before entering into a Prenuptial Agreement:
Situations before marriage: If you or your spouse has much more money or other assets, will property remain separate in the case of a future divorce? Similarly, if one of you has student loan debt, should that person bear entire responsibility for it? Assets and debts are distributed during a divorce. A prenuptial agreement might help to clarify how assets and debts will be divided.
Joint vs. separate finances: Do you intend to keep your wages separate throughout the marriage? In the case of divorce, would each individual be entitled to what they have earned, or would you agree to an equal division of property and
money regardless of each person’s earnings? What would you agree to do financially if one of you gave up your job to raise any children born during your marriage?
Prior relationships: When one or both members of a marriage had children from a previous relationship, it is more customary for them to engage into a Prenuptial Agreement. You may want to consider a prenup to determine who is financially accountable for what when it comes to the children and to safeguard your children’s wealth.
Can I marry before my divorce is finalized?
Yes. Engaging does not alter your legal marital status. Of course, you cannot get into a new marriage until your divorce is official. Even if you are legally separated, you may not marry anyone else until your divorce is completed.
whether you still need to conclude your divorce, you should consult with a lawyer to see whether publicly declaring your engagement would harm or prolong your divorce case.
How does a marriage effect my legal standing if I want to become a citizen of the United States?
You may be eligible for a K-1 non-immigrant visa if you are engaged to be married to a US citizen. This is sometimes referred to as a fiancée visa. If your fiancée secures one of these visas on your behalf, you must plan to marry within 90 days of arriving in the US.
Obtaining the visa requires much planning. To begin, you must have seen your fiancée in person at least once in the two years before your application for the visa, unless your culture forbids potential spouses from doing so. You must next submit Form I-129F, often known as a Petition for Alien Fiance. Not only will the form be evaluated by citizenship and immigration services, but also by US Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security.
You have the right to be in the United States as a fiancée on a fiance visa. However, the visa will expire, and if you do not marry within the 90-day period, your legal right to live in the United States may be canceled. Once married, you may apply for a permanent visa as the spouse of a US citizen.
Is my legal or financial situation affected by the fact that I am engaged to be married?
Unless you are engaged to a U.S. citizen and pursuing citizenship or a visa, being engaged to be married normally has no effect on your legal status. Otherwise, being a fiancé is not a different legal position.
Things may become tough financially. If you take on obligations or sign contracts as a couple before your wedding, those debts will follow either person who consented to them, even if the wedding does not take place. This most often occurs with wedding vendor contracts when an engagement is terminated after deposits and contracts have been paid.
Marriage, on the other hand, changes your legal and financial position, therefore it is a good idea to address these problems with your spouse before the big day.
