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The prenuptial agreement effectively protects against the vagaries of marital dissolution. However, even a well-drafted prenuptial agreement will not always succeed in fully accomplishing this objective. For example, the agreement will likely not prevent separate property from becoming marital property if assets are commingled.

Nor is there any assurance that a prenuptial agreement will not be declared invalid in whole or in part if circumstances have changed during a long marriage, or if the equities of the case run against the party in whose favor enforcement of the prenuptial agreement would inure. Fortunately, the prenuptial agreement need not stand alone: Inherited family wealth and to a lesser extent assets acquired before marriage may be protected by a trust.

Typically, a trust designed to protect family wealth would be created by a parent for the benefit of the either…