While many couples think they know just about everything regarding the other party before they get married, there are often some big surprises that get revealed after a bride and groom say their vows. Everyone has bizarre, and typically harmless, habits that they either keep under wrap early in a relationship or unconsciously avoid doing around others. However, some individuals have more damaging habits, addictions, and ways of living than is good for them, or their spouse. One of these is compulsive spending. Compulsive spending and the financial strain that it causes on a relationship can ruin a marriage. A family law attorney may provide an option for you before it comes to this, however.

What Is Compulsive Buying?

It is reported that six percent of the U.S. population has compulsive buying behavior, which is not a diagnosable disorder but certainly derives from a serious behavioral issue. Compulsive buying or spending is more common in women — 80 percent of people with compulsive buying are women — though with online shopping it is expected to increase in the male population as well. Compulsive buying is characterized by an obsession that compels the individual to continue a repetition of behavior (buying unnecessary things) even though there are obvious adverse consequences, such as not being able to afford necessities, credit card debt, going into bankruptcy, and getting divorced.

How a Postnuptial Can Help

According to a number of surveys, financial fighting between spouses is the leading or secondary contributor factor in divorce, with 41 percent of Generation X spouses reporting that they got divorced because of disagreements about money. Nearly half of married and cohabiting couples argue about money, with the majority of the arguments involving a spouse saying that the other spends too much, or a spouse that says that the other is too stingy. Other fights are common, such as whose responsibility it is to pay the bills or what the couple’s financial goals are. A postnuptial agreement can help resolve these conflicts by cutting money disagreements out of the marriage altogether.

Prenuptial agreements have been around for a long time. They are used to separate each party’s finances so that not everything gets lumped into marital assets during the duration of the marriage. For example, a prenuptial agreement could have a clause that all of the high earning spouse’s salary during the marriage be considered non-marital assets. Prenuptial agreements are also used to protect one spouse from the other’s horrible debt, as well as many other financial reasons. Lifestyle clauses within pre- and postnuptial agreements are entirely different.

What Is a Lifestyle Clause?

A lifestyle clause is a pre or postnuptial agreement between spouses about the behavior of one or both during the marriage, typically relating to in-laws, religion, and other joint decisions such as child raising. Some spouses are putting in lifestyle clauses within their pre- and postnuptials that limits the other spouse’s weight, limits time spent with in-laws, or limits the number of days that in-laws can stay in the couple’s home. Other lifestyle clauses are used to deter infidelity, set up rules regarding a child’s religious upbringing or education, or who gets the family pet if it comes to divorce. None of these lifestyle clauses discuss money, aside from the financial penalties that breaking the rules may incur.

Financial Penalties Are Commonly Used to Hold Both Spouses Accountable

The predominant way that lifestyle clauses are used to hold each spouse accountable, at least for wealthy married couples, is with the use of financial penalties. For example, if a husband gained 10 pounds, the prenuptial agreement may require him to pay his wife $1,000 for each pound gained, coming to $10,000. Infidelity could be fined at $500,000, as some reported clauses mandate.

Most people have heard of a prenup agreement and may be familiar with what one entails, yet many are unaware that there is a postnuptial agreement that can accomplish some of the same objectives. The main difference is that a prenup is signed by the parties before they get married, and a postnup is executed sometime after the marriage.

Examples of When a Postnup May Be Useful

Postnups can be used effectively in a number of circumstances:

On April 7, 2016 The Huffington Post reported that Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, signed a bill on repealing a law that has been on the books since 1868. The law made it a second-degree misdemeanor for an unmarried man and woman to “lewdly and lasciviously associate and cohabit together.”

I can only say hooray for Gov. Scott for finally attempting to move the State of Florida somewhat closer to the 21st century!

It seems that Florida in fact trumps Michigan and Minnesota, if you’ll pardon the expression, which still do not legally allow unmarried couples to cohabit.

If you are contemplating a divorce, one of your first concerns may be how the divorce will affect your financial future. Dissolving a marriage will inevitably have an impact on both spouses’ financial circumstances. This is particularly felt in high-asset divorce cases. The higher and more varied assets you own, the more complex challenges may arise during divorce. Regardless of the specific assets involved, you will need experienced legal help during your high net worth divorce.

Complex and High-Asset Divorce

Perhaps the most financially relevant dispute in a divorce is property division. Illinois uses a property division standard termed “equitable distribution.” This means that both spouses receive a “fair” share of their marital property based on their individual monetary and non-monetary contributions to the marriage. According to state law, marital property generally includes all assets acquired during the marriage.