marriage

if you are looking to save money on your wedding or need to get married quickly due to deployment or other, you may be considering a courthouse wedding. getting married at the courthouse is often simple and inexpensive. courthouse weddings often only cost about $25 to $100 in fees, whereas a traditional wedding often costs over $15,000.

to get married at the local courthouse:

• contact the local courts, or look online, to discover the requirements to get married.
• gather required items such as your birth certificate and state ids. blood tests are often no longer a state requirement.
• apply for your license and pay the fee.
• make an appointment if necessary and invite witnesses and/or guests if needed.
• show up with required ids and get married.

while you can often apply for your marriage license online, you cannot (as of right now) get married online. if future spouses cannot be physically together to get married, they may be able to get married by proxy in a few states. a proxy marriage takes place when one or both matrimonial parties cannot attend the ceremony in person. sometimes this type of marriage takes place when a person is deployed in the military and wants to get married before they are allowed to come home. obtaining a legal marriage by proxy can be challenging. you may benefit from working with a lawyer familiar with proxy marriage laws to help ensure that your marriage is valid.

yes, you can. it is called a postnuptial agreement. it is the same as a prenuptial agreement it is only called that because it is signed after the marriage ceremony rather than before. whenever you decide to make your agreement, it is best to do it when your relationship is on good terms and you can both be supportive of each other's needs. prenups are becoming increasingly common since many are choosing to marry later in life after they've accumulated a few assets.

reasons to get a prenup or postnuptial agreement:

• so you can define how assets may be divided rather than the state
• to protect retirement investments, especially if one spouse is quite older
• to protect family inheritances of children from previous relationships
• to separate debt that is not jointly shared
• your business partnership agreement may require it
• to define agreed upon spousal support (if your state allows it)
• to protect incomes if incomes vary greatly

limitations of prenups:

• prenups cannot be used to determine child custody
• it cannot be used to waive alimony
• it cannot include incentives for divorce
• it may be proved invalid if signed under duress
• they are not to be used to outline things such as where holidays are taken