A prenuptial agreement in Idaho needs to address specific issues that are unique to a community property state.

Community Property Defaults

In Idaho, nearly everything earned or acquired during marriage is presumed to be owned equally by both spouses. Quite literally, what’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine in Idaho marriages and remarriages.

Defining and Separating Property in a Prenuptial Agreement

Characterize your assets by clearly listing what’s separate property. Separate property includes anything owned before marriage or inherited after marriage. Define what happens if separate property gets mixed with community property. For example, what should occur when depositing an inheritance into a joint account? Similarly, what happens when using joint funds to pay down a separately-owned mortgage? Also state how to handle income or growth from separate property, like rental income from a house you owned before marriage.

If one spouse brings a home into the marriage, will home improvements using community funds benefit the separate owner or both partners?

Your Prenuptial Agreement Can Redefine Income and Earnings

Without a prenuptial agreement, future wages earned by either spouse during the marriage are community property. If you want to keep earnings separate (or define how they’ll be split), this needs to be explicit.

If either spouse owns a business, do you want increases in the value of the business interests to be separate property of the owner? This may depend on whether both spouses contribute labor to the business.

Watch Out for Debts and Divorce

Both spouses can be liable for debts incurred during the marriage, unless the prenuptial agreement limits each person’s exposure to the other’s debts. Importantly, each spouse discloses their existing assets and debts to each other in schedules attached to the agreement.

Idaho allows no fault divorce. Your prenuptial agreement can’t prevent divorce, but can lay out how property is distributed in case of divorce. For example, you can decide that no one pays spousal support or alimony in case of divorce. But when children are involved, the court must fairly allocate marital resources for the best interest of the child.