Question: My fiancé and I (both married before) decided that to make things less complicated, we would sign a premarital agreement. We have researched over the Internet and have found many explanations of what should be included in our agreement, some confusing or contradictory. Could you give us a basic rundown of what should be covered?

Answer: While neither the Internet nor this column can take the place of an experienced attorney in this field, here is a checklist that may be of assistance to you.

• A “recitation of circumstances” should include the purposes of the agreement, your intentions as to anticipated contributions, plans for employment, property, and income. In some instances, a judge will be asked to review the agreement, so full financial disclosure is essential to assure substantive fairness.

• Both attorneys should be identified and, if either of you waives the right to have a lawyer, the conditions and circumstances regarding the waiver should be included and state that the waiving party had an opportunity to consult with counsel but chose not to do so.

• All premarital property should be clearly defined and described, as should details about how you intend to deal with disposition of property, increases or decreases in property value over time, income earned from property, etc.

• Each of you should make a full disclosure of assets, liabilities and income. It is always a good idea to attach financial statements, tax returns, or other financial data.

• Your agreement should contain your definition of “Marital Property” in addition to whether this type of property is subject to applicable divorce or descent law. Should you divorce or should one of you die, what will happen to these assets and under what conditions? In addition, how will increases in property values be treated, not to mention the manner in which income will be treated.

• You can include or exclude from your agreement whether or how spousal support (alimony) will be paid or waived and, if paid, in what amount and when. Many people choose to tie support payments to the duration of the marriage.

• Your agreement should deal with if and how beneficiary designations on life insurance, retirement, annuities, and the like will be handled. If, for example, one of you will be named as beneficiary of life insurance, you should be given the authority to verify compliance by obtaining information from the other party or directly from the insurance company.

• Since the choice of what state law applies to the agreement is so important, your lawyer should be well-versed on what state laws will be most beneficial to you. And since people move, the agreement should be flexible enough to deal with changes of residence, for example, from a common law to community property state.

• Your agreement should include what will happen if the law changes, and what will happen to the remaining provisions if one part of your agreement is deemed unenforceable.

• How will the agreement be modified, if at all? If you remain married for a long enough time, will the agreement “sunset” or automatically expire?

• Since a premarital agreement is part of an estate plan, it should specifically identify all trusts or wills that may impact the agreement.

• Attention should be paid to surviving spouse’s rights, homestead, cemetery lots and burial, etc.

SoloFact: Remember: One lawyer can’t represent both of your interests.