Can you use a prenup to ensure child custody?

If you’re like many parents, the number one thing that you’re worried about when getting a divorce is that you’ll still get to see your child. You probably haven’t thought that much about your assets or financial concerns. You want to ensure that you get to have custody of the kids.

However, from your time thinking about those financial concerns, you have found that a prenuptial agreement can be used in advance to divide your assets. This can make a divorce go more smoothly, and it can make things easier because the decisions have already been made for you. It’s also a good way to protect assets that you want to ensure you keep in the event of a divorce.

But can the same thing be done for your children? If your main goal is to get custody, should you use a prenup when you get married to set that up?

Prenuptial agreements must focus on finances

The truth is that you cannot do this, as prenups are not supposed to be used for anything regarding custody. They are purely financial in nature, and they are more akin to estate planning than anything else. You decide where assets go and how to split up money, but you can’t say anything about where the children are going to live and things of this nature.

That doesn’t mean you can’t talk about it with your spouse in advance and have some sort of plan. But if the two of you can’t agree on the way to divide custody, the court will make a ruling, and they are most likely to offer shared custody to both parents.

As you work your way through this process, be sure you’re well aware of all of your legal rights.