A recent Wall Street Journal article on the place of prenuptial agreements among Baby Boomers — and others looking to protect existing assets — raises important questions.

As the article stated, “Baby boomers looking to protect their assets are increasingly turning to prenuptial agreements — legal contracts drawn up before a marriage that dictate what happens to assets in the event a couple should part ways, either by divorce or death.”

An interesting point about Baby Boomers who lost significant assets accumulated throughout a long career is that second marriages tend to bring up the subject, especially if one party has significant assets and adult children to whom they intend to leave their estate.

Pre-Nups are hopefully not the first time a couple talks about money and finances and how they plan to handle these items during the marriage, but it will certainly get the ball rolling. Discussing everyone’s assets, debts and what will stay with whom will allow for everyone to formulate realistic expectations about finances during the marriage.

In fact, money problems are one of the leading causes of divorce. In fact, Mexico, cleverly requires couples to declare separate or community property on their marriage license. This forces the couple to discuss at the time of applying for the license how they plan to handle finances of the marriage. If one party insists on separate property and the other does not agree, he or she then can determine whether they intend to apply for marriage or not.

The U.S. could learn from this practice.

Pre-nups generally are drafted for people with money. Because of their usefulness in starting the discussion about marital finances, pre-nuptial agreements should almost be required by states issuing marriage licenses.

Another point about pre-nuptial agreements: if the law changes after the fact, a carefully crafted pre-nup may not protect certain provisions because of the change in law. A pre-nup will not shield an asset after a change in the law.

If you have any questions about how a pre-nup can protect your assets or your family’s inheritance, contact a family law or divorce attorney before you say, “I do.”

Yet, experts continue to offer advice and counsel. The Diane Rehm Show on National Public Radio yesterday devoted an hour to the topic. The segment, entitled “Starting Over After Late-Life Divorce,” included interviews with Andrew Cherlin, a Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Johns Hopkins University and author of “The Marriage-Go-Round: The State of Marriage and the Family Today”; Janice Green, a family law practitioner in Austin, Texas, and author of the book, “Divorce After 50: Your Guide to the Unique Legal and Financial Challenges”; and Abigail Trafford, a journalist, columnist, and former health editor at “The Washington Post” and author of “Crazy Time” and “My Time.”

The piece focused on how “many long-term married couples are making the decision to go their separate ways — possibly for another two or three decades.” The hour explored “the unique challenges and opportunities of late-life divorce.”

The lesson: As people live longer, late-stage divorce should not be such a surprise — and often comes with less acrimony. But planning remains important to ensuring everyone’s rights are protected.

Watch and listen as family law attorney Barry Finkel discusses divorce and taxes with a local television news host.

Below are four articles on the topic of finances, homes and divorce.

Fifteen Critical Financial Mistakes in Divorce. This article outlines key issues to be aware of.

What No One Wants to Keep in Divorce. Falling house prices make the castle one no party in divorce wants to call his or her own.

Post-Divorce Finances. Getting your finances in order after the divorce is vital to recovery and long-term success.

Social Security and Divorce. If you were married for at least 10 years to someone who has earned benefits, you may be eligible to collect payments as well.

Year-end tax time requires special attention. When handled by an experienced family law attorney and a tax professional, returns can meet both the letter and spirit of federal or state filing guidelines. Since state law governs how divorce is handled, it’s important for Florida residents to hire a local divorce attorney.

Whether paying or receiving alimony, child support or mortgage costs, or settling real estate investments, the tax implications can be significant. Filing and reporting can be as simple as a line on a tax return, or as complicated as federal forms to be filed.

For example, an ex-spouse receiving monthly alimony of $2,000 would simply include the income as a line-item on his or her tax return. Their ex-spouse consequently would enter the same amount as an expense on his or her return. No forms, like a W-2, are provided.

Child custody and timesharing has its own tax considerations. The parent with whom the child spends the majority of his or her overnights – that is, 183 of 365 nights a year – can claim the tax exemption and head of household on that child for the previous year. This is true even if both parents are wage earners and split child support costs. If one parent is the high wage earner and is current on child support, that parent may claim the exemption if agreed to by the other party. Since timesharing generally is negotiated into the settlement, this rarely varies from year to year. For those parents who have a near-even split of timesharing, they can swap the exemption, but not the head-of-household status. If there is more than one child, the parents can agree to split the exemptions attributable to each child.

Be sure that both don’t parents take the dependent exemption or claim head of household on a given year. If they do, it could audit issues with the IRS.

In the still volatile real estate market, claim a real estate deductions are important. If a couple is divorcing, or if the husband is making mortgage payments on the house the wife lives in, a judge can order the husband to make mortgage payments on top of child support. As a general rule, if one person is paying the mortgage and interest, he or she gets the deduction. If they’re splitting the payment, they split the deduction. If that’s the case, request two year-end interest-paid statements from the mortgage company.

The tax implications of divorce are varied and particular. A skilled family law attorney and an accountant can simplify the process and ensure reporting requirements are met.