'We live in a house that I purchased entirely with money I had before we were married'

"If we divorced after being married for more than 10 years, he would be entitled to 18% of the home's value." (Photo subject is a model.)

Dear Quentin,

My husband and I have been married for more than 10 years. It is a second marriage for both of us, and we both have children from our previous marriages. We live in a house that I purchased entirely with money I had before we were married.

When we married, we agreed that if I passed away while we were still married, he would inherit 100% of the house. However, if we divorced after being married for more than 10 years, he would be entitled to 18% of the home's value.

Do you think this prenuptial agreement is still fair given our circumstances?

The Wife

Related: Do I use $300,000 of my $1.2 million retirement savings so my daughter can attend her dream college?

You can email The Moneyist with any financial and ethical questions at qfottrell@marketwatch.com. The Moneyist regrets he cannot reply to questions individually.

A more common arrangement in second marriages is to leave the spouse who has no ownership in the home a life estate.

Dear Wife,

It's fair if you think it's fair. It's certainly generous.

But first I want to make sure that you do, in fact, have a prenuptial agreement that was signed before you got married. There's a big difference between a verbal agreement and a legally binding contract. I assume you have the latter.

Given that you both have children, if you pass away while you are still married, your husband could inherit your home or a share of your home, and he would be able to pass that property on to his own children. Does that seem fair to you?

Even if he made no will, his share would automatically go to his children, because stepchildren are not regarded as legal heirs under the law. So he would inherit your house if you died, and your children would get nothing.

After more than a decade of marriage, this is an excellent time to sit down together with an estate-planning attorney and, if necessary, the attorney who drafted your prenup. Does this agreement still reflect your intentions?

He would inherit your house and your kids would get zero.

A more common arrangement in second marriages where both parties have children from previous relationships is to leave the spouse who has no ownership in the home a life estate, meaning they have the right to live there for the rest of their life.

Many second-marriage couples use a qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust or another marital trust that allows the surviving spouse to live in the home or receive income from the home, so your kids would ultimately receive the remaining assets.

Given that your house qualifies as premarital property, make sure you have the paperwork to show you did so with separate funds. Income and property obtained during your marriage are considered marital or community property.

Why 18%? Did your husband contribute to mortgage payments, taxes, insurance or maintenance? Did he give up career opportunities? Has your financial situation changed? Have your respective children become financially independent?

Related: 'Respect is important': If my financial adviser said, 'Hey,' my wife and I would walk out. Where do you draw the line?

Moral vs. legal obligation

A life estate does not always run smoothly. The surviving spouse and children become financially intertwined, because the children have an ownership interest. Decisions about selling, repairs, property taxes, insurance and maintenance can become fraught.

The bottom line: in most states, you are not obliged to leave your second husband 18% or 100% or any other share of your home, whether you divorce or predecease him, as long as you purchased that home with money acquired before your marriage.

But even if you purchased the home with premarital funds, be careful not to unintentionally convert this separate property into marital property by adding your husband to the deed or using marital assets to pay the mortgage or make renovations.

Divorce and death are very different beasts. Divorce is governed largely by the prenup and divorce law in your state. If one of you dies, your prenup, wills, trusts and state probate law, beneficiaries and transfer-on-death deeds will all come into play.

Be careful not to unintentionally commingle this property.

Laws vary by state. If, for example, the home was a Florida homestead property titled solely in your name, and you were survived by your husband and children, Florida law generally provides that your spouse receives a life estate.

There is a second option for surviving spouses in Florida. Instead of having the right to live in a home for life, in Florida, the surviving spouse can choose to own 50% of the home outright. Your children or other descendants would own the other 50%.

"If your assets have been commingled your spouse will inherit 100% interest in the house," says Rhodes Law Firm, which has offices in North Carolina and Georgia. "In most cases, the second spouse changes everything and leaves assets to their own children."

Healthcare is another issue that should not be ignored. "In many states, spouses have a legal obligation to support each other. If one spouse needs long-term nursing home care the assets of the other may be used to pay bills," it adds.

What will happen to the house is only the start of your estate planning.

Don't miss: We have $8 million in traditional IRAs. Should we tap them to buy a house - and take the tax hit?

By emailing your questions to The Moneyist or posting your dilemmas on The Moneyist Facebook group, you agree to have them published anonymously on MarketWatch.

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-Quentin Fottrell

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July 23, 2026 14:31 ET (18:31 GMT)

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