No one weds to later divorce, but most recognize at least the possibility that the person soon to be standing next to them at the altar might be a "future former spouse." Individuals of means will want to do what they can to protect against the financial consequences of that possible outcome, most commonly, perhaps, through a pre-nuptial agreement. However, when a pre-nuptial agreement appears impractical or impossible, undesirable or potentially unenforceable, complementary, or alternative strategies such as the self-settled spendthrift trust might be used.

Learning Objectives

• Identify the distinctions between “separate property,” “marital property,” community property,” and the system of “equitable distribution” versus the division of community property in a divorce


• Recognize how pre- and post-nuptial agreements work, and what they can and cannot do


• Determine the utility of self-settled spendthrift trusts (i.e., “asset protection trusts”), as an alternative, or as a supplement, to the use of a pre-nuptial agreement