Although prenuptial agreements may include provisions for property and debt division, spousal support, and even inheritance rights, there are some critical topics that you can't control in a prenup, and you'll need to address during the formal divorce process. Child custody, parenting time, and child support
Prenuptial agreements can be beneficial for both parties, since they solidify the terms of a relationship and marriage before problems arise. But every prenup should get a thorough review by an attorney before they're signed, since the cost of critical errors in the document could cost one or both of the parties later.
Every state prohibits you from including anything illegal in your prenuptial agreement. In fact, doing so can put the whole prenuptial document or parts of it at risk of being set aside. A prenup cannot include child support or child custody issues.
Judges scrutinize prenuptial agreements in detail to look for anything that tends to offer a financial incentive for divorce. If a provision can be read to encourage divorce, the court will set it aside. Courts used to view any provision detailing how property would be divided as encouraging divorce, because society has an interest against divorce.
In order to avoid a court deciding what happens to your property attained during your marriage, you can use a prenuptial agreement. Without a prenup, creditors can go after the marital property even though only one spouse is the debtor.
Before signing a prenuptial agreement, both parties are obligated to disclose their finances. This includes all investments, real estate, property, and financial liabilities. Some states also consider future inheritances and require them to be included as part of the agreement.
A prenuptial agreement cannot include personal preferences, such as who has what chores, whose name to use, where to spend the holidays, information on child-rearing, or what relationship to have with specific relatives. Premarital agreements are meant to address monetary issues.
At the heart of any valid premarital agreement is the requirement of disclosure. Parties must fully and accurately disclosure all assets and liabilities prior to the writing of the contract. Without adequate disclosure it is difficult to create a binding contract, especially if material facts have been concealed.
A court can deem a prenup agreement invalid based on fraud in several scenarios. If a spouse hides his or her assets at the time that the prenup was signed, and the other spouse was not aware of the assets at the time that they signed the agreement, that can be viewed as an example of fraud.
5 Things You Cannot Include in Your Prenuptial Agreement Nonfinancial Rules. ... Anything Illegal. ... Terms Involving Child Custody or Support. ... Unfair or Unreasonable Terms. ... Incentive for Divorce.
What Should be Included in a Prenuptial AgreementPremarital assets and debts. ... Children from previous marriage. ... Marital assets and debts. ... Marital responsibilities. ... Work. ... Family property. ... Property division in divorce.
Generally, the answer is that there is no expiration date. You'll need to show the prenup is invalid for reasons other than the length of the marriage. You'll need an experienced family lawyer who aggressively fights to protect your marital property interests and fights for alimony, child custody, and child support.
Here are several pros and cons to having a prenuptial agreement in place.Pro: Protect What's Important. ... Pro: Protections for Children. ... Pro: Better for Businesses. ... Pro: Prevent Debt From Transferring. ... Con: Wondering if the Marriage Will Last. ... Con: Ruins the Romance. ... Con: Creates a Sense of Distrust.More items...•
An antenuptial agreement, otherwise known as a prenuptial agreement or prenup, is a contract made between two individuals who are planning to get married. Antenuptial agreements are documents that set forth the rights of each spouse and the property division in the event of a divorce.
Spousal abuse or cheating does not void or invalidate a prenuptial or partition agreement unless the agreement specifically states that. Most prenuptial or partition agreements do not mention abuse or cheating.
Prenuptial agreements may be nullified or declared void in some situations. Specific clauses could also be voided if they are unconscionable or forbidden by law. For example, a prenup can't decide on issues of child support or child custody.
Prenups last, usually by their terms, for the entire length of the marriage. However, prenups sometimes include provisions that expire. The most common one might be an agreement that there's going to be no spousal support unless they are married for at least 10 years.