Prenuptial Agreement Law (also called "Premarital Agreement Law" or "prenuptial agreement law") is the area of law that deals with the legal rules relating to marriage contracts and agreements.
Prenuptial agreements are contracted couples sign in advance to lay out how assets will be divided in the case of divorce as well as the financial obligations of each spouse. However, certain things can be agreed to ahead of time that cannot later be altered. The specific language of a prenup will depend on the state it was executed in and the court that oversees the enforcement of the agreement.
One of the requirements to make a valid prenuptial agreement is that both parties must exchange full financial disclosure, such as income statements, assets, and a list of all income sources. Therefore, entering this type of agreement requires great trust between the parties.
Often, an agreement between two people for a prenuptial agreement made only in the event of separation or divorce is more unconscionable than an agreement created for divorce or separation. When separating the two arrangements, it is much more challenging to reach an agreement when married couples decide to write a contract to deal with the improbable event of a divorce or separation.
Judges have demonstrated a willingness to deviate from the terms for the benefit of a party in a prenuptial agreement case, an overprotectiveness that is not present in other contract cases.
The original purpose of prenuptial agreements was to protect the property of high society individuals from greedy money-grabbing spouses. Even couples who've been married for generations use this agreement to specify how they want their assets divided if they ever divorce.
Prenuptial agreements, also known as premarital agreements and "prenups," have long been thought of as ominous arrangements given only to prospective spouses due to distrust between the involved parties. Although this may have been true at one time, the fact is that such agreements have a variety of applications that make them valid documents that can be given to prospective spouses with clear eyes and full hearts. The purpose served by such agreements is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the entirely legal system. To understand how to utilize these documents properly, one must first understand the purpose of prenuptial agreements.
Prenuptial agreements were one of only two ways to shift assets away from a spouse without having an adversarial divorce. Prenuptial agreements were made to shield wealthy people from their spouse's creditors and the taxing authorities by preventing or discouraging any attempt by the spouse to reach into the assets of the affluent spouse.
Prenuptial agreements are a way for people about to get married to agree on things like property division and alimony if their marriage does not work out.
Generally, these agreements are brought back to the sideboards after the couple is married. But, some couples prefer to use the prenup before getting married. This is especially helpful for couples who live in community property states, where spouses' assets become subject to joint ownership, which can sometimes lead to unfair results.
The most common types of agreements are spoken, written, and implied.
A prenuptial agreement is a contract signed by a couple who plans to be married but has not yet married. Prenuptial agreements can be signed after the couple is married but need to cover issues that arose before and after the marriage.
You can follow a few steps to ensure that any contract is enforceable in a court of law. These steps will enable you to create agreements with protections that you can rest easy so they won't be argued against successfully in court.
Drafting a prenuptial agreement must be done so that its validity cannot be challenged in a subsequent divorce or other court proceedings. This process must be fair and equitable to both parties to avoid following court challenges.
If the contract is unduly unfair to one person, it's better not to agree. For example, suppose one person stands to leave the marriage wealthy and the other poster to eventual poverty. In that case, the terms of the agreement will be confirmable in court, and perhaps the contract will be tossed out.
