Protect your assets and your family.

No one enters a marriage with the assumption that it will not survive your lifetime. Unfortunately, many marriages are terminated by a dissolution proceeding. The truth is that an estimated 50 percent of all first marriages and 78 percent of all second marriages end in divorce. At Emswiller, Williams, Noland & Clarke, LLC, we assist our clients to plan for the unexpected and protect their premarital assets in the event their marriage does not remain intact.

Our attorneys are committed to protecting our clients’ assets. When one individual enters a marriage with substantial assets, it is crucial to draft a clear and concise prenuptial agreement that defines assets as premarital in the event of a future divorce.

Prenuptial agreements are also estate planning tools to define how your assets owned prior to the marriage will be distributed to a surviving spouse and your children from a prior marriage.

Business owners are at risk of losing their businesses during the divorce process. Property settlement agreements may require individuals to hand over control of their businesses to ex-spouses, and individuals may be forced to liquidate their companies in order to make payments to ex-spouses. A smart, thoughtfully drafted prenuptial agreement can protect businesses in the event of a future divorce.

Domestic partnerships also share assets & liabilities.

Domestic partners are similar to married couples in that they often share assets and liabilities. However, unlike married couples, domestic partners or same-sex partners are not subject to Indiana’s divorce and inheritance laws.

At Emswiller, Williams, Noland & Clarke, LLC, our attorneys assist unmarried heterosexual and same-sex couples to draft domestic partnership agreements that protect both parties’ assets owned prior to the current relationship in the event the relationship terminates. Like a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, a well-drafted domestic partnership agreement clearly defines how assets and liabilities will be distributed to each party if the relationship is terminated

Domestic partners who have children can also include desired custody, parenting time and child support arrangements in their domestic partnership agreements. While the courts do not have to honor these child-related agreements — especially in the case of same-sex couples when one parent is not biologically related to the children at issue — these agreements can be admitted as evidence of the couples’ wishes regarding custody, parenting time and child support.