Marriage Agreements | Laughlin & Company Lawyers Mediators Port Coquitlam

Marriage contracts and cohabitation agreements are legal options for committed couples. Before entering marriage or cohabitation — where they will live as common-law spouses — couples can choose to formally agree on important aspects of their union. The process can help spouses identify and resolve key issues at stake in their relationship before conflict arises.

Laughlin & Company Lawyers Mediators assist in all aspects of domestic contract creation from initial negotiation to final settlement. We draft marriage agreements for clients throughout the Tri-Cities. We see a marriage contract as an important element of a healthy relationship. The process does not foreshadow divorce; instead, it is intended to prevent a divorce from happening.

Benefits Of Domestic Contracts

Sometimes called a “prenuptial agreement” in some jurisdictions, a marriage contract is often arrived at after a consultative process where spouses decide not only how property is to be divided if they break up, but also how they will arrange their affairs while together. One benefit of a marriage agreement is the freedom it awards British Columbia couples to decide on issues that will override certain presumptions in the Family Law Act. This means that, in effect, couples can decide what is best for their family and not the standard provisions of the law.

At Laughlin & Company, we help clients who have already had a chance to discuss what concerns them to arrive at a workable agreement. As attorneys and mediators, we can either act as a third-party mediator who assists in the negotiation of an agreement; or we can represent one spouse’s interests as his or her legal counsel.