marriage law?

[Mister Keys 0]

hello people!
 

i am a german guy and about to marry my wonderful american girlfriend who lives in LA in the US in a couple of weeks.

 

i have a couple of questions regarding marriage law:

 

which marriage law applies to us? does it depend on where we live or where we got married? does it make sense to make a "marriage contract"?

 

looking forward to your answers!

 

axel

[Ontarkie 13,969]

Not sure what you mean about marriage laws or contract?

 

 

 

 

[Mister Keys 0]

hey, maybe i translated that incorrectly from german into english.

i mean when two people get married, there are certain laws that say what happens in case of a divorce, who gets to keep how much money, etc. in case you want to change some of these things you can work out a contract that determines these fincancial things!

[milimelo 4,266]

She's in California so the family/marriage law of that state would apply. 

[Mister Keys 0]

and if we moved to germany and lived there german marriage law would apply?

[milimelo 4,266]

In essence it all depends where you reside. If it's CA, their law will apply. If you registered your marriage in Germany and then live there German laws would apply. 

[Chris Duffy 1,256]

I strongly suggest a prenup if you have assets.   Or if the person you are marrying has to pay child support

 

I am in Texas and if your spouse signs a pre nup then if your ex tried to take you to court to get a modification on child support payment, the judge would just laugh at them and tell them that a pre nup prevents the court from taking other spouses income into consideration.

 

 

[Chris Duffy 1,256]

4 hours ago, Mister Keys said:

and if we moved to germany and lived there german marriage law would apply?

Your laws would over rule US laws on marriage.

 

For Example:  My wife is from Philppines,  Which Philippines divorce is illegal and doesn't exist.  So if we are in USA and my wife files for divorce in USA and get granted US divorce.  Her country would not recognize it.  And if she went back home and got married there she would probably get arrested for bigamy.  I have seen this happen before.

[Ontarkie 13,969]

Well what laws comes into place is when divorce is filed.

 

A prenup does not protect assets acquired after marriage. Only prior if you have things to protect then yes get one. But when dealing with two countries you may want to get one in both countries as the other country will not likely honor or enforce what was done in the other. 

 

9 hours ago, Chris Duffy said:

I strongly suggest a prenup if you have assets.   Or if the person you are marrying has to pay child support

 

I am in Texas and if your spouse signs a pre nup then if your ex tried to take you to court to get a modification on child support payment, the judge would just laugh at them and tell them that a pre nup prevents the court from taking other spouses income into consideration.

 

 

This is completely wrong a prenup does nothing to stop child support modification. Child support never ever is prevented with a pre nup. 

 

9 hours ago, Chris Duffy said:

Your laws would over rule US laws on marriage.

 

For Example:  My wife is from Philppines,  Which Philippines divorce is illegal and doesn't exist.  So if we are in USA and my wife files for divorce in USA and get granted US divorce.  Her country would not recognize it.  And if she went back home and got married there she would probably get arrested for bigamy.  I have seen this happen before.

This again is not entirely true. If your wife files for divorce as a permanent resident the PI will not recognize it. If she files after she because a USC they will. 

[Chris Duffy 1,256]

1 hour ago, Ontarkie said:

This is completely wrong a prenup does nothing to stop child support modification. Child support never ever is prevented with a pre nup. 

 

Sorry but you are incorrect here

 

I never said it was prevented.  What is prevented is taking the spouses income into consideration if there is a prenup in place.  Thus the court can't modify a child support payment based upon a spouses income if there is a pre nup in place.

[Ontarkie 13,969]

13 minutes ago, Chris Duffy said:

Sorry but you are incorrect here

 

I never said it was prevented.  What is prevented is taking the spouses income into consideration if there is a prenup in place.  Thus the court can't modify a child support payment based upon a spouses income if there is a pre nup in place.

The prenup cannot be used to avoid increase in child support. It is a contrat between the wife and husband not a way to get out of a parents responsibility to take care of the kids. Yes that means the spouses income will be used present and future.

Edited December 3, 2017 by Ontarkie

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

12 hours ago, Chris Duffy said:

 

I am in Texas and if your spouse signs a pre nup then if your ex tried to take you to court to get a modification on child support payment, the judge would just laugh at them and tell them that a pre nup prevents the court from taking other spouses income into consideration.

 

 

Child support is based on the income of the biological or custodial parents.  In some states it is just the payor they take into account, in others it is both the payee and payor.   If for some reason this wasn't the case, a pre-nup wouldn't be worth the paper it was written on.  The child didn't sign it after all and the court is only concerned with the child's interests.

 

It is to maintain the child at the level of support they would have had if both parents were together still.

 

An international pre-nup sounds like a complicated matter that isn't likely to hold up well in court.  OP should consult an attorney, not visajourney for further advice.

[SAT 9,609]

 

The Law is not about the truth, or justice. 

A court can choose whether if it wants to enforce a prenup. 

There are many reasons why a prenup can be deemed invalid in any state. 

[Chris Duffy 1,256]

13 hours ago, Ontarkie said:

The prenup cannot be used to avoid increase in child support. It is a contrat between the wife and husband not a way to get out of a parents responsibility to take care of the kids. Yes that means the spouses income will be used present and future.

Again you are incorrect

 

I was sitting in court about 12 years ago and my ex was trying to get more child support, I had been married a few years and had a pre nup done with my new wife.  She finally got a job after a few years in the USA during the modification hearing the judge was told was made aware of the pre nup and he told my ex wife attorney that since there is a pre nup that they should never request a modification based on my new wife income.   She was told she could leave the court if she would wanted.  

 

It was one of the few victories I gained back then........

[Ontarkie 13,969]

2 hours ago, Chris Duffy said:

Again you are incorrect

 

I was sitting in court about 12 years ago and my ex was trying to get more child support, I had been married a few years and had a pre nup done with my new wife.  She finally got a job after a few years in the USA during the modification hearing the judge was told was made aware of the pre nup and he told my ex wife attorney that since there is a pre nup that they should never request a modification based on my new wife income.   She was told she could leave the court if she would wanted.  

 

It was one of the few victories I gained back then........

You were not clear about it being a new spouses income, A pre nup doesn't stop that either but rather how the State has set up Child support. Some States allow the new spouse's income others do not.