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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Posts
    2

    Default Filing a Joint Divorce With Separate Assets and a Prenuptial Agreement

    My question involves a marriage in the state of: AZ

    My spouse and I have been together for 18 years, 12 of those married.
    We have always kept separate accounts and assets. We have no children.

    We have a Prenup which pretty much says what's his is his and what's hers is hers
    We excluded alimony and any interest in each others retirement accounts in that prenup as well

    We want to file for a divorce soon and want to fill in the papers ourselves
    We have no children and pretty much agree to respect the Prenup for the big ticket items (house, business, cars)
    We are cordial about the little things (furnishing, housewares etc.), most of which have been purchased with separate funds anyways.

    We are looking at the divorce papers on Maricopa.gov together and have a few questions.

    1) We want to do this together, do we really have to have one petitioner and one respondent, which makes it feel more hostile than it is
    Is there no way to just get this done together in one shot and skip the petition/serving steps etc.

    2) When looking at the papers there are 5)a community poperty and 5)b separate property
    We live in a community property state, but it is our understanding that because of the Prenup, we do not own community property
    Is that correct?

    Our understanding is to fill in 5b) separate property and list the big ticket items (business, house, cars, bank accounts) and reconfirm
    that each of use keeps what's in his/her name including the debt related to each item

    OR would we still have to fill in 5a)??

    Also, do we have to attach a copy of the Prenup for the court, or can we just make a list and say,
    5b) separate property refer to separate list
    and attach a list of the big ticket items with information on whose assets they are

    We are a bit confused, but want to get this over with in a quick efficient and friendly fashion, without involving any lawyers if at all possible.

    Thank you!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: Filing a Joint Divorce With Separate Assets and a Prenuptial Agreement

    1. Yes. Somebody has to be the petitioner.

    2. I'm not in a position to either analyze your estate or interpret your prenuptial agreement for you.

    3. You do not need to file your prenuptial agreement with your complaint.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    16,474

    Default Re: Filing a Joint Divorce With Separate Assets and a Prenuptial Agreement

    Quote Quoting JaneAere
    View Post
    My question involves a marriage in the state of: AZ

    My spouse and I have been together for 18 years, 12 of those married.
    We have always kept separate accounts and assets. We have no children.

    We have a Prenup which pretty much says what's his is his and what's hers is hers
    We excluded alimony and any interest in each others retirement accounts in that prenup as well

    We want to file for a divorce soon and want to fill in the papers ourselves
    We have no children and pretty much agree to respect the Prenup for the big ticket items (house, business, cars)
    We are cordial about the little things (furnishing, housewares etc.), most of which have been purchased with separate funds anyways.

    We are looking at the divorce papers on Maricopa.gov together and have a few questions.

    1) We want to do this together, do we really have to have one petitioner and one respondent, which makes it feel more hostile than it is
    Is there no way to just get this done together in one shot and skip the petition/serving steps etc.

    2) When looking at the papers there are 5)a community poperty and 5)b separate property
    We live in a community property state, but it is our understanding that because of the Prenup, we do not own community property
    Is that correct?

    Our understanding is to fill in 5b) separate property and list the big ticket items (business, house, cars, bank accounts) and reconfirm
    that each of use keeps what's in his/her name including the debt related to each item

    OR would we still have to fill in 5a)??

    Also, do we have to attach a copy of the Prenup for the court, or can we just make a list and say,
    5b) separate property refer to separate list
    and attach a list of the big ticket items with information on whose assets they are

    We are a bit confused, but want to get this over with in a quick efficient and friendly fashion, without involving any lawyers if at all possible.

    Thank you!
    If the two of you are completely in agreement it might not hurt to consider using an attorney to draw up the paperwork, since you are finding it confusing due to your specific circumstances. It might not cost very much and it could save you a lot of aggravation.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Filing a Joint Divorce With Separate Assets and a Prenuptial Agreement

    Thank you all for your responses
    Our concern is, that attorneys will try to fiddle with content, which we don't want
    or will say they cannot represent both of us

    We had a situation, where we had an attorney draw up an agreement and we asked him to just draw up the paperwork,
    in the end he then said, because we used one spouses' legal plan to pay for his services, he would be representing that spouse
    and he recommended that the other spouse see an attorney
    that was something we did not want, we just wanted a knowledgable party make sure the papers are correct
    in the end it became a whole big deal

    our fear is that this will happen again, when we call an attorney

    Our biggest confusion is that we live in a community property state, but we have an prenup that says all our assets are separate and are to remain separate during the course of the relationship

    now will the court consider these assets community property and will expect us to fill in 5a) community property etc...
    or can we safely assume, because we consider them separate and have a contract between the two of us that confirms we consider them separate,
    that we fill in 5b) separate property
    the list would be the same in both cases, we are just wondering if we make a formal mistake by doing one over the other

    Thank you for your help!

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