Hello, I (29 years old) am planning to marry my fiancee (28 years old) by the end of November. We are doing a simple confidential marriage certificate (we are in CA). We both are not from The States so we are not doing any ceremony as such. We will be doing a ceremony back in our country few months down the line.

I want to get a prenup done because we have a significant difference in our incomes and most probably it will remain so throughout our lives. I want the prenup to be fair to both of us. I have done a lot of reading online but didn't find a lot of details fo couple with significant earning difference. I need help in coming up with some ideas which are fair to both of us just in case if we end up having a divorce.

Here is some background information:

• We both live together from last 6-8 months.
• We share all our expense (rent/utilities/food) 50-50.
• We both have very similar living standard (read economical and minimal :))
• Neither of us has any major outstanding debt.
• Neither of us has any significant assets at this point.

Me:

• MS in Computer Science
• Working in Silicon Valley from last 3.5 years.
• Compensation: 180-200k/year (150k base)
• 401k: 37k
• Savings: 100k (saving for house downpayment)
• Car Loan: 9k which I am keeping alive rather than paying off since ROI is really low.
• Will inherit around 160-200k from parents in future. Although this inheritance will be in another country.

Her:

• Masters in Engineering field but it's from Europe and coursework was not in English. So it does not map really well here.
• Currently, she is taking some business and IT classes in a community college. We hope that this will allow her to get into the job market here.
• No debt (as far as I know)
• 25k in savings
• We hope she will get an entry-level job next year or so making at least 50-60k but it's not certain.
• In the worst case, it is possible that she ends up staying at home but it's highly unlikely because she is driven and independent who wants a career. I don't want to factor staying at home in the prenup as of now since it will skew it completely for something which might not even happen. My plan is to revisit the prenup in next 3-5 years if the need be.

From our 2.5 years long relationship I am certain she is not a "gold digger" (if she was she could have done much better than me I think). But given the difference in our earning as of now and also what it will be in the future, I want to protect myself in case if things go bad between us. At the same time, I want the prenup to be fair to her. She will be bringing much more than her salary into our marriage. She will also be sacrificing her youth, career etc for the marriage, kids, and family. I want to be fair to these sacrifices if the divorce is based on we drifting apart or any valid reason.

So far I was able to draft these points:

• Pre-marital property/assets/saving: They and any increment in their value will remain separate and individual property.
• Property acquired during marriage: If acquired by an individual will remain individual property.
• Property acquired during marriage: If acquired by both us through joint effort will be treated as marital property and owned equally.
• Division of Marital Property: This is something I am not sure of. How should our marital property be divided? Since I will be contributing significantly more to our marital property should I state that my share should be more? During the ratio of our earning I was able to come up with 75/25 split. Does this seem reasonable and something which will hold up in the court?
• Ownership of business: I might start my own business years down the line. Should I be splitting this? My thoughts are that if I start my own business my FW will be significant support in it and her life and our family will be affected by it. I was thinking maybe 70/30 split.
• Premarital debts: Remains responsibility of the individual.
• Debts acquired during marriage: The sole responsibility of who acquires it.
• Division of Marital Debt: Planning to match the split from the "Division of Marital Property" for the same logic that I will be earning more. I will be responsible for 75% of it.
• Taxes: We will file it separately and will not take responsibility for other.
• Marital Residence: I am planning to buy the house in my name (whenever that happens. Bay Area!) and pay for it completely from my salary and not share mortgage responsibility at all so that it remains a non-marital property. Is this a good idea and will it hold in court? I have read that as soon as there are kids involved everything goes out of windows and the mother and kids get the house.
• Household expense (utilities): 50/50?
• Disability: If either of us gets disabled then the other person will support.
• Retirement account: I am not sure if I should put anything about it or not. If I don't then it becomes community property. Should I say a split here since my retirement account money will be significantly more?
• Spousal support: I'd also like us to both waive spousal support unless we have kids and one of us gave up marketable skills to care for them.
• Mandated couples counseling before beginning the process of divorce except in cases of abuse or infidelity (Found this one on some Reddit post and really liked the idea)

We will draft this up in the first week of November with lawyers. We will have separate independent lawyers and sign it in front of the lawyers. Once signed we are planning to get a marriage certificate the following week.

I have heard that there should be a gap of 30-40 days from prenup and wedding else it can be thrown out on basis that it was forced and the invitation was sent out etc. Will this hold true in our case too since we will just be signing a paper and there are no commitments or plans made?

Your valuable feedback will be very much appreciated.

Thanks.